I was previously employed by a food vendor where I earned a daily income that was too little to cater to my needs. What I made was only enough for my rent and foodstuff and barely anything else. While I was working there, I learnt how to make potato chips and crisps which inspired me to start my current business. My life has greatly changed because I can now make enough money to fully take care of all my needs and still be able to support my family.

I am currently running a business on french fries which I sell by the road-side in an open area. This is not very healthy because of the dusty nature of the road which is the reason why I wish to rent an enclosed place to run the business. I have not succeeded in finding a better spot for the business yet, but as soon as I do, I will move and think of other food items that I can sell to increase my income.

There were a lot of fun activities that came with the December Holidays in my family last year, courtesy of the transfers that I received. We had never celebrated Christmas as a family in a big way before in our family due to low income, so what we would do on such a day was just to ensure that we got at least a decent meal, usually one that consists of meat/chicken and rice/chapati which are rare dishes in our family. Things were a bit different this past Christmas season where I organized a huge party with lots of food and drinks which were enjoyed by friends and relatives. For the occasion, I ensured that my family members were glammed up in new clothes and shoes, all which I purchased with part of the transfers. I also decided to pay the transport charges for my family members who travelled to our rural home during the Holidays which also took a good amount of the transfers. When all had completed, I used some of the transfer to boost by french fries business by adding more potatoes then saved the rest of the money I had left.

Currently, my life is different from how it was in that, I run my own business. Before then, I could get 250 KES every day and this denied me the opportunity to even save. Most of the time, I ended up paying rent and food. That was it. Having the opportunity to work for myself courtesy of GiveDirectly's transfer makes me happy because I work under my rules and I will never be worried about looking for casual jobs again.

My new plan is to expand my business. I want to give back to the community by creating a job opportunity for the youths in our community. This will only be possible if my business will prosper and this is why I am determined to grow it. In the future, I plan to operate a cafe and a motorcycle taxi.

I spent a larger portion of my transfer on starting a business. I sell boiled eggs and fried potatoes. I am glad that it is doing well. This is way better than the casual jobs which was on and off and at the mercy of the employer. I am proud that I do not idle unlike before where I could sell for someone and told not to come for work some days. I also used some amount to pay for my child's hospital bill. I finally spent the rent on shopping, rent, and transport.

I am planning to save adequate money that will enable me to open a food kiosk business on the remaining transfer. To me, this will be a better source of income as compared to the casual cleaning work that I do daily. This is the goal that I have right now because this will enable me to work on my own and be able to generate my income.

The transfer enabled me to clear my house rent arrears that had accumulated to KES 10000 which I was not able to clear in time due to the financial challenges I was going through then. GiveDiretly came in handy to sort out this problem for me and it gave me so much joy to learn that I was finally going to be at peace with my landlord. It also provided me with an opportunity to plan on how best I am going to utilize my transfers to make more benefitting investments.

I spent KES 10000 to pay for my house rent arrears that had accumulated over some months. I was not able to pay the rent in time due to little income that I earned from my small jobs. I am extremely grateful to GiveDirectly for coming in handy to help me clear the outstanding bills. I am now at peace with my landlord and I am looking forward to doing other valuable investments that will raise the living standards of my family. I also spent KES 5000 to clear school fees for my sister who is in a local day school. This has seen her study in school this term uninterrupted contrary to the norm where she has always been on and off school. The remaining amount was used to buy the basic household needs such as food and clothing for the family.

I was awoken by a message notification early that morning. On checking to confirm, it was a message that I had been anxiously waiting for; I had finally received my KES 20000 from GiveDirectly. I felt so happy. From then on, I hardly had a wink. It was so fulfilling for me to know that I was finally going to be able to clear outstanding rent and be at peace with my landlord one more time.