When the drought persisted, it wrecked me because I highly rely on subsistence farming for sustenance. Not only does the household often run out of food, but we also shelter under a poor structure with perforated mad walls and a tattered roof that becomes leaky when it rains. Since I believe the season of rain is fast approaching, my priority is to revamp the entire house. Hence I have used most of my recent transfers to fund the renovation exercise. Because I had previously acquired tree poles, I hired a sawyer to cut them into planks for roofing and paid him KES 2,400. I also used KES 4,800 to buy additional tree poles, iron sheets, and nails. I channeled the remaining amount towards purchasing feeds because I raise chicken for a living.

I used the first transfer to buy poles to repair my house whose one side is almost falling, the second money I spent on labor, and finally used KES 1500 of the third transfer to buy nails and other building materials.

In my opinion, GiveDirectly does well by giving out unconditional cash transfers. With the money, one can use the money on anything he likes as long as it does not harm anybody else. Since we do not have to pay back the funds, it gives us ample time to think about the best way we are going to use the funds so that it can benefit us appropriately.

In my previous transfer, I used the money in buying iron sheets. My house is urgently in a poor state and needs immediate intervention. With the latest transfer, I spent it in buying sisal twines, nails and also added more iron sheets. I am currently in the process of repairing the mad walls that had cracked up and broken down. In some few weeks to come I will have completed repairing the walls of my house and what will be remaining will be working on the roof. My house is currently grass-thatched and some parts of the roof leak when it rains. Since the grass I used in building my house has stayed there for a long, it sometimes comes off in incidents where there are very strong winds. Once I have bought enough iron sheets I will then start the process of building the roof of my house.

I received the cash at 9 am. I was tending to my chicken when I received the text message that I had received the money. I became very happy. I quickly told my mother the good news and we all celebrated by ululating. Everybody was happy with the good news.

The money has made a big difference my house is going to be in good condition. Once my house is ready I will be happy and have peace of mind that I will be staying in a house that is safe for me and my family. I am also grateful that my chicken project will continue flourishing and this is because of the help the money to this project. With all this, I am very happy and very grateful.

I used the money to improve my house which was in a bad state. The roof was licking and also had some very bad cracks that would make the house fall. I spent KSH 2700 buying wood, Makuti, sisal twines, and nails so that I could repair my house. My house is currently under construction and I am happy that I will have a good that will be safe for me and my family. I also spent KSH 300 buying feeds for my chicken. I have chicken and they needed more food supply.