My life is different than it would have been if I never received the transfer in that I now own a decent iron sheet house like the rest of my village members which makes me fit in this society unlike before where I was a laughing stack . I lived in a leaky grassed thatched house and it was almost collapsing that showed evidence that to the entire village my high level of poverty. I am very appreciative to GiveDirectly for empowering me financially since with this money I have acquired what I have desired for a long time. Today , the grass thatched house serves as a kitchen .

In my opinion, GiveDirectly did well through giving money with no conditions tied to it . This gave the beneficiaries freedom to use the money on what they lacked the most and as a result their living standard changed positively since majority bought livestock , started small business and built houses. Personally , I do not see what GiveDirectly did wrong at its work.

I spent a larger portion of my second transfer on buying a second hand motorcycle. I am hopeful that my future is much brighter since the cash transfers has empowered my family. With the motorcycle that I bought, I am assured of earning daily income and save 1100 KES per week in a Sasco which I enrolled in after starting this business. Previously, I depended entirely on casual labor works which was stressful and unproductive. The remaining amount I bought two goats. Thanks to GiveDirectly.

My daily life is currently different from how it was before since we are no longer being rained on during the rainy season. This is because I have been able to build a decent and spacious house for my family. This would not have been possible had it not have been for GiveDirectly because the money I usually get from doing some menial jobs was not even enough to buy food and other necessities. I now feel at peace and feel like I am at the same level as other people in our village because of the decent house I now live in. Also, owning goats is a source of financial assurance for me because I can easily sell any in case of a financial crisis.

It was around 4 am when I received a call from one of my brothers. I immediately received it as I thought that maybe it was an emergency as he has never called me at such an hour before. Upon receiving it, he asked me whether I had also received the money from GiveDirectly as he had received his. After checking my messages, I became so happy at the thought that I was so rich at that time.

When I received my first transfer, I bought six goats for rearing. I settled on this since they are much cheaper and the prices of a dairy cow were high. I will later sell these goats and use the money to buy a dairy cow after they have reproduced and increase in number. Also, I spent some amount to buy some building materials majorly timber, iron sheets, nails and also paid a mason for the work of constructing a house for my family. The house we were living in is grass thatched and its roofs were leaking during the rainy season. I used the remaining amount to lease a farm, hired a tractor to till it and bought some maize seeds to plant. I am now optimistic that I will have enough harvest this year which will last us till the next harvesting year.