My ultimate goal is for my children to have a better future than what we currently provide for them. To that end, I'd like to have a borehole dug on my property so that I can sell water to people in my neighborhood. This would help me earn enough money to change our way of life.

GiveDirectly excels at peddling hope. From children going to school to others owning land for the first time, such as myself, life as we know it has changed in ways we would never have imagined in my community, thanks to GiveDirectly. I pray they continue to help countless others.

The largest purchase made with GiveDirectly funds was a one-acre plot of land. I had wished for years to own my own property, and the funds allowed me to do so. Even providing food for our two children and ourselves can be difficult with my husband, who is a local medicine man. As a result, a portion of the funds were also used to stock up on food. My husband and I both work from home, with me sewing men's and women's clothing. My products are reasonably priced; for example, a pair of men's pants costs $3.5 and a dress costs between $2.5 and $4.5, so the prices are reasonable. A portion of the GiveDirectly transfers also went towards the payment of our children's school fees at Katoseni Primary. We pay $10 in fees for our eldest, who is in Grade four , and $10 for our youngest, who is in PP2. The funds arrived at a time when even the maize we normally grow had failed, making everything more expensive everywhere, and it was a great relief to have a financial cushion, thanks to GiveDirectly.

It was in the afternoon, and I was attending a school meeting for my children. In the morning had not checked my phone because my home has poor reception and on my way to school, I didn’t notice any incoming messages. I was attentive to the meeting but got distracted and saw a message on my phone. I was surprised to see the message was my first transfer of $550 from GiveDirectly. I was excited and my radiant face could not hide that I was over the moon at that moment. After the meeting, I ambled home to share my news with my husband. It was a delightful evening for my family.

It has been quite tough, especially with the cost of living rising and the unemployment situation. The biggest difference in my daily life is having our piece of land where we can plant what we want before I would survive on leasing land and planting only maize and without the freedom of planting a variety of farm produce which would limit my harvest. Currently have planted quite a variety, including vegetables. I am content that I bought a bed and separated my daughter, who is almost at the adolescent stage, from sharing a bed with his brother, who is still young. I am also encouraged that after the long wait; I have my piece of land that my children can inherit when they are old enough.

The lack of reliable sources of income is our main challenge as a family with two children at school. We do not have better ways of generating income and because we largely depend on subsistence farming, My husband is currently unemployed and has been surviving on the daily casual jobs that come his way like working as a motorcycle rider which earns him as little as $3 every day. As soon as we received our first transfer, we paid off $300 and got ownership of a piece of land to resume farming. I bought a bed for $70 because I wanted my daughter to have a separate bed from his brother. I paid $50, which cleared the long overdue school balance. The remaining amount was enough to buy the family food that lasted for the next two months. I was grateful because the funds came on time and I was not late in planting.