Living on a small piece of land inherited from my parents with my current family of 9 has been so difficult that I always lease an extra piece from the neighborhood to supplement our subsistence farming production. The unpredictable weather that has rendered our farm unproductive has discouraged me from leasing any land because adverse droughts can last for an entire season after paying the lease cost. At the moment, I have set a new goal of starting to save for an additional piece that will be permanently available for any future project. This will also prevent me from leasing frequently and instead use the leasing funds to purchase farm inputs.

GiveDirectly did an excellent job of providing us with an unconditional transfer and the freedom to spend on addressing issues in our household. This freedom provided a great deal of satisfaction because all spending decisions were informed by what each household was going through at the time. I am also impressed that they transferred money directly to our accounts, thus collecting them from mobile money shops was so simple. I have nothing against the overall approach, but I wish it would return in the future because we still have a lot to do.

My small income from casual labor and construction was never enough for my family of nine, which required a lot every day. Paying school fees and providing adequate daily bread from an unreliable wage has always been a challenge, leaving me sleepless at times. I was grateful when GiveDirectly gave me a boost throughout the entire transfer, which resulted in an immediate transformation in my household. With the second transfer, I was able to pay the $250 secondary school tuition for my son and daughter. It was a relief for me and a source of great joy for them because they can now attend all classes alongside other students. In addition, I provided my daughter with some items worth $50 that she would require for the rest of the term. I also spent $100 on new pairs of clothes for all seven of my children after paying the school fees for the five primary school children, and the remaining $130 on enough food to last us a month with my family.

I can vividly recall that it was around 5 pm when I was still busy with the construction work. Suddenly, I heard my phone ringing, upon receiving the call, I realised that it was my brother who had called to inform me that he had received money from GiveDirectly. When I was done with the call, I immediately checked my messages, luckily I confirmed the receipt. This was the most exciting day in my life because I knew that I would be able to accomplish my goals.

I am happy to say that my life is different now, in that, I have managed to construct a decent house for my family which I was unable to build before due to financial constraints. My children too are happy because I replaced the grass thatched roof with an iron sheet roofed house. I feel so fulfilled to have accomplished so much in a short period. I am so grateful for the support that changed my living standard amazingly.

When I received my transfer, I felt that it was my responsibility for me to change the living standard of my family. This is because I was unable to build a decent house for my family before due to school fees responsibilities and unstable sources of income since I am a masonry and a father of six children. Thus, I used KES 32,000 in building two houses, one for myself and the other one for my boys. I then used KES 10,000 in paying the school fees. I am grateful for the support that impacted my life greatly