I solely depended on subsistence farming which was not enough to feed my family. Here, the weather is unpredictble, so you have to hurry to catch up with the rains at least to enable you to plant and harverst on time. Now, I am supplementing this with livestock keeping. Were it not for GiveDirectly, I would still be struggling to compete with the rains without an option. I will be able to increase my productivity and I, therefore, expect to earn a profit in return.

A friend in need is a friend indeed. We have been receiving aid from the government and other organization. What I have seen from GiveDirectly is totally different, from the enrollment up to pay in our account directly. With other organizations, there are middlemen, before any assistance comes to you it is syphoned to their accounts and you either get less or nothing. In my opinion, GiveDirectly has done nothing wrong other than to directly impact on poor people lives positively.

I spent part of my second transfer in buying livestock, two bulls and three goats. I will use the bulls for ploughing my farm. Initially, I was using a hoe to till my farm which was expansive, this was taking a lot of time and energy. This meant I had to get up early and leave the garden late so that I till at least a big portion which was not enough still. With the bulls, I will be able to till my farm on time, something that was not happening before. My harvest will also improve too which will increase my farm productivity and earn me more profits. With the goats, I would want them to reproduce and sell them in future to support my children education. The other part of the transfer I am spending on food for my family consumption. During this period, I have been able to feed my family with ease.

Owning the pair of oxen was a great achievement to me since I didn't own and now that I can hire out to others at a fee also will provide a source of income during the planting season. By this, GiveDirectly has changed my life.

I never expected any change, as I imagined the normal mornings of waking up and painfully looking for a casual job. It never occurred to me that one of my mornings would be graced by such an amazing message from GiveDirectly that I had actually received my first transfer. On that morning, things were different due to the happiness and joy that welcomed my new day. I thanked God and GiveDirectly for the blessing of this money.

I have been really experiencing hardship in doing my farming and since I applied much effort in land preparations and due to the fact we were using tools that are tiresome and time-consuming. With much pains, we toiled but the yields were not pleasing at all. At times we couldn't finish our whole acreage and I was always late as far as farming was concerned. I am now happy that I've purchased a pair of oxen which I believe will enable me to do early land preparations and promise robust harvests. With the oxen also I will be able to hire out to people in order to earn some income from it. I also bought 3 goats, that I can keep and I trust that they will reproduce and I can able to sell them in future and use the money obtained to venture into other profitable projects. I also spent some cash on buying food for my family since it was a challenge to me, considering that at times we used to sleep without having a meal.