My goal is to continue supporting the education of my five children, three of whom are currently in secondary school and two in elementary school. I would be happy if I supported them all through all their levels of education up to the university level. Though my only source of income is the kiosk business that my husband operates, I trust that it will grow in the future to raise enough school fees for the children. 

Am grateful that Give Directly came to help us with the cash transfers and enabled my husband and me to start the kiosk business. Granting families like mine unconditional money is the greatest job that Give Directly does. Even though I wish they would continue supporting us through other cash programs, I understand that they need to help others from villages that are similarly engrossed in poverty. In my opinion, there is nothing wrong that I wish Give Directly would improve on. I hope they carry on with the spirit of helping other communities, as they did with mine. 

First off, I am grateful for the cash program. It enabled my family to meet our most pressing demands at the time, such as school fees for my two secondary school children. Their outstanding tuition cost for that term was $150. I also spent $40 on a decent hardwood bed for my three children who were sharing a bed at the time and could barely fit in it.  I then spent $200 on four goats. I'm happy that two of these goats have given birth, bringing the herd to six.Am certain that these goats will help generate funds in the future to meet the needs of my family. The remaining cash went towards purchasing food for my children. This ensured that my household never ran out of food and we constantly enjoyed regular meals, particularly on the days that my husband’s kiosk business failed to yield enough food. 

It was around 9am when I heard my friend saying that she has received her transfer from GiveDirectly. At that moment my phone was charging in my house and I became curious to know my transfer status. I sent my daughter to pick it and also check whether I had received the money too or my turn was not yet. The news I received were good news after the confirmation. My heart was filled with joy and gratitude for the gesture portrayed by GiveDirectly.

Initially I was only working from hand to mouth; the little I was getting from the hustles couldn’t be saved even a single penny. This kind of life made it hard for me to pay school fees for my children; hence they were on and off school due to school fees. But since the day I received the transfer from GiveDirectly, I was able to clear the pending school fees as well as paying prior for the term to follow. This is the biggest difference that I can attest that GiveDirectly transfer did for me. The other thing is the investment I started, this will be a source of income for my family and I am sure it will serve the small expenses for the family.

Upon receiving the money, I prioritized my children education because some of them were at home due to school fees. In that regard, I took KES 10000.00 and paid fees for my college child, KES 8000.00 for my secondary school children and KES 1000.00 for the primary school children. In total I have 5 children who are in school. I also bought some clothes for them and renovated the floor of my house. Having done that, I invested the remaining amount to my shop business where I sell mostly food stuff and personal effects.