Continuing to support the education of my 4 grandchildren through primary, secondary and college education is the goal I have. Currently, I have the responsibility of taking care of them since their mother is visually impaired making it hard to support their educational needs. I intend to sell the milk from dairy farming which I started to support them. Accomplishing this will make sure they secure a good life in the future through obtaining a quality education.

In my opinion, GiveDirectly did well in visiting and training every household before enrolling the eligible ones. In addition, the organization fulfilled every promise it made to us by sending cash transfers to poor households.

After divorcing my spouse 15 years ago over a household conflict, I was forced to return to my parental home with my small daughter. Life has not been easy since I assumed the responsibility of bringing up our kid alone. The transfer from GiveDirectly was very helpful in fulfilling my dreams of being a landowner. I spent $250 of my recent transfer to complete the payment of a one-acre piece of land that cost $700 in total. I had started buying it with first aid. At the moment, I am very happy owning land and planning to construct a home as well as use it for crop farming. In addition, I used $170 to start dairy farming by purchasing one local dairy cow that will supply enough milk for my 4 grandchildren. Currently, I am forced to purchase milk daily, which is quite expensive. The remaining amount supported me in the education of my 4 grandchildren by clearing their fee arrears.

It was around 9 AM when I was from preparing breakfast for my children when I heard a message tone on my phone. Since I am illiterate, I asked my helper to check who it was, and upon reading, she confirmed that it was a message from GiveDirectly informing me that I had received my first cash transfer. I felt extremely happy and blessed for this fortune for I knew that my life will finally change completely.

The biggest difference in my daily life is that I am now happier and more hopeful. The fact I am now sleeping in a conducive environment has restored the joy in my life. I never experienced the joy of sleeping on the modern beds and mattresses instead I have been using the traditional ones and sometimes sleep on the floor. This situation has been affecting my entire family because we could not sleep comfortably. My children were always in hospital because they were always attacked by bedbugs and other harmful insects at night. As a single mother who solely depend on the charcoal business, the little I could earn could only support their daily meals and other household needs. I was however optimistic that the troubles would come to an end someday. I am so happy that finally my prayer was answered and we longer complain about the back pain or the fatigue.

I spent part of my first transfer on buying a piece of land ( 1actre ) at KES 30000. I had intended to have my residence since I am a single parent and I stay at my parent's compound. This has been stressing me for a while because I knew very well that in the future that will affect my children. In addition to that, I bought a new bed and a mattress at KES 13200. These were to replace the old traditional bed which I was using for years. I have always been complaining of back pains and fatigue every morning as result I couldn't sometimes fail to do my house chores. With the remaining amount, I bought foodstuffs for my two family members as other household items like furniture.