We are currently residing in a one-bedroom apartment with a verandah. My dream is to one day build a three-bedroom house. In the long run, my dream is to combine a grocery store and a thrift store selling used clothing.

My children's tuition debts were out of control. GiveDirectly excelled at giving me control over those debts and ensuring that my children could continue with their education and potentially have a better future than we as their parents had.

I cut trees in the wild for a living and burn them to make charcoal. When we aren't plowing our 5 acre farm, where we harvest coconuts and maize, my husband helps me make charcoal. Because of the severe drought this year, the harvest not been the best. As you can imagine, we don't have a lot of spare cash, which is why we need to buy a mattress and bed with the money we have. We bought groceries and set aside money for school fees for four of my six children. The eldest is studying welding at Mpanju College, the second in Grade 4, the third in Grade 2, and the fourth in nursery, and we have been paying $140 per month.for college, and $5, $5, and $17.5 per term at Palakumi Primary, respectively. The funds allowed us to get ahead on payments and have peace of mind for a while. My five and two-year-old children have yet to start school, but the funds were used to ensure their well-being. GiveDirectly was a blessing, and I shudder to think where we would have ended up as a family if it hadn't been for them.

I had just left home and I was on my way to fetch water when I Received a message. Upon checking it, I found out that I had received my first transfer from GiveDirectly and I was so happy and went back home to inform my husband. Later in the day we visited the nearby market where we withdrew part of the transfers.

I have never slept on a mattress in my lifetime and I didn't know the comfort that comes with sleeping on a modern bed and a mattress until I bought mine when I received the transfers. I couldn't be more grateful than I am now and I want to commend GiveDirectly for changing lives of people like me.

Previously, I was sleeping on a traditional bamboo bed on a sisal mat because I couldn't afford to buy modern bed. My husband and I are peasant farmers and for the last three years, life has not been easy because of the prolonged drought which made it impossible for us to do farming. We resulted into burning charcoal but the income that we were earning averaging to KES 400 per week couldn't give us a better life. We were only able to afford one meal per day for our family and the long life dream of buying a modern bed seemed impossible for us to achieve. I spend KES 12000 to buy a bed and mattress and for the first time I have now known what sleeping comfortably means.