My life is different from how it was in that, I will no longer be depending on handouts since I own livestock that will be bringing me income.

The fact that the community was directly involved when GiveDirectly came through Baraza's hence, this helped most of us to understand what was going on. The unconditional money also gave us the chance to solemnly make decisions that helped in uplifting our living standards. On the other hand, there was nothing that went wrong.

I spent part of my transfer on cementing my house since it was a dream come true for my family and I courtesy of GiveDirectly. Besides, we hardly sneeze and cough uncontrollably like we used to thus minimizing frequent visits to the health center for medication. Besides, I bought a dairy cow for domestic and commercial purposes. Before I did not have any livestock, however, because of financial assistance, I am not only a proud owner of an exotic dairy cow but also sheep that reproduces three times a year hence expecting more return in the future. Lastly, used the remaining amount to replenish my wardrobe.

The biggest difference in my daily life is the dairy cow that I have bought for the family. I feel so much relieved by the fact that I am no longer going to spend much money on buying milk for the family. The thought of having more cows in the near future is overwhelmingly good to me too. These are assets that will help me meet any financial emergencies like paying school fees for my children and other important tasks ahead. I feel so much indebted to GiveDirectly for enabling me realize my dreams much earlier than I had projected.

I felt so happy the moment I received money from GiveDirectly. We had been expecting the money early that month but days had passed without us receiving the money. We were at the verge of giving up but our hopes were rekindled when we received a message from GiveDirectly that the money was going to delay that month but assuring us that we were going to receive them anyway. It was very early in the morning when I heard my phone ring and on confirming that I had indeed received the money, I shared the information with my wife and children who equally rejoiced upon receiving the information.We already had plans on how we were going to spend the money and we got down to implementing our plans as a family.

I used KES 28000 of my first transfer to buy a dairy cow that was already at the milk producing age. I chose to do this since I had suffered for a long time buying milk each day for my family. I spent a total of KES 1000 per month on milk alone and I felt this was money which would otherwise have been spent to meet other basic household needs. I now feel proud and relieved that I have not only a cow but also milk to feed my family and the menace of looking for milk from the kiosks each and every day is now a thing of the past. I used the remaining amount to build a kitchen for the family and cement the floor of the main house. We did not have a kitchen and this meant that we used gas for cooking at the main house which was way too expensive as well. I refilled my gas at least once in a month and this was straining on my little income sometimes. Having built this kitchen means that we can now use firewood which is locally available and cheaper as well and ultimately reduce the cost of living. The floor of the main house once improved, shall make it easier for us to maintain and make it more comfortable as well. I am looking forward to accomplishing all my set out plans once I receive my second transfer.