My new goal is to start a business of my own. I am thinking about opening a general shop within the village or in a nearby centre called Chebunyo. The goal is to make sure that I am able to vend for myself and my siblings comfortably. Before GiveDirectly came I was working as a casual in a nearby town but when we received the money I resorted to staying at home as I take care of my family. Currently I do motorcycle riding where ewe get money to buy food and other basic household needs. The plan is to save up enough money through this hustle and start a general shop where I will be selling basic household commodities such as food.

In my opinion GiveDirectly did very well by giving us all an equal opportunity to choose how to spend the money that we received. Looking at what I have been able to do at a personal level and for my family gives me so much joy. Every other person that benefited from this program is equally very happy for the fact that the money we received was unconditional.

I used KES 25000 to buy a dairy cow and used the remaining amount of KES 20000 to pay school fees for my siblings who are in their secondary level of education. Two years a go we were left as orphans and we have learnt to rely on one another. I went to Nairobi to look for a job that enabled me vend for my family since I was the eldest and when we received this fund we were so happy about it. My siblings now have an opportunity to clear their secondary school studies and their hope of having a better future has been rekindled. The dairy cow that we bought too shall go a long way in helping us as a family in things like payment of school fees for the other siblings who are still in primary school.

I was checking my phone as usual in the morning. It was around 6 Am When I got a message notification from my phone. When I checked it out I felt so happy. It was a message indicating that I have received money from GiveDirectly. I felt so happy because I have never received such an amount of money before. I immediately inform my brother and we went to withdraw the money the same day. I knew I would be able to buy building materials and build a better house.

Purchasing building materials and building a better and more spacious house is the biggest difference in my daily life. I lived in a small grass thatched house that could not host all my family. This was my main concern at that particular time. I get a small income from the casual jobs in the village. This was majorly for food and clothes. I had no extra money to save. When I received the transfer from GiveDirectly I felt so happy and I decided to build a better house. Currently, I have a decent house. I no longer get worried whenever I have relatives or visitors at home because I have a space to host them. I am so grateful because this could have taken quite some time to own a better house. GiveDirectly has improved our living standards.

I spend KES 30,000 on purchasing building materials and build a better and spacious house. I lived in a small grass thatched house before. I had always wished to own a better house but I did not have the money. I spent KES 6,000 on ploughing my farm, bought seeds and fertilizers. I hope to get better harvest this season since I was able to plant at the right time. I spent the rest of the money on food and other household items.