After building a strong fence around the chicken coop, I intend to purchase more birds and establish a larger poultry farming that will provide eggs and chicks for sale as an additional source of income. I am optimistic about the clothes business I am running right now, with a large portion of the proceeds going to my savings account. I plan to spend the savings on chicks and feed that needs to be replenished every two weeks. I am relieved that the project is currently manageable, and the few eggs I have been collecting and selling have paid for the majority of the household bills.

I am grateful for GiveDirectly's generous support, which allowed every member of the village to participate in the program. Many people were impoverished, but the free cash transfer allowed them to make decisions that affected their livelihoods. The majority purchased livestock, while others paid school fees and other debts. Everything was clear from the beginning to the end, and we would like to encourage more scrutiny during enrollment to ensure that every eligible household in the village receives assistance.

I was living in a single house with my three children prior to receiving the transfers from GiveDirectly. Even though the family is still small, I needed a separate house from the kitchen where we could sleep and store clothes that would otherwise be stained by kitchen fumes. I used $200 of my second transfer to build an additional house, which we moved into as soon as it was finished. When we have visitors, we now have more room in both houses to accommodate them. After purchasing poles and enough chain links to complete the construction, I spent the remaining $20 on the construction of a circumference fence on a chicken coop. I have only recently begun introducing chicken to the coop and hope to continue doing so whenever I have extra money from my farming practices and the clothes business that I have been running. In addition, I used the remaining funds to purchase food for the next two months as well as new clothes for my spouse and our child.

I was out having an evening walk when I got the news from some of my neighbours who were celebrating the receipt of the first transfer. Since I had left my phone back at home, I hurried back to check if I had received the mine too. Upon reaching home, the huge smile on my spouse's face as she handed me the phone could tell it all. It was such a joyous moment in our family.

The biggest difference in my daily life since I started receiving the transfer is having constructed a separate kitchen. My family's health is the most important and it should always be a top priority. I am glad there are no more respiratory frequent respiratory infections which resulted from the smoke emissions from wood. We no longer frequent the costly hospitals. On the other hand, we risked developing a chronic lung illness had we continued cooking in the same room we slept and spent most of our time in.

Cooking in the same room we slept in had been a struggle and uncomfortable. Not only did the emissions from wood smoke stain our households but it resulted in frequent respiratory infections, especially amongst my young children. I am a subsistence farmer and rarely do we get surplus for sale. This limited us from constructing a separate kitchen. With the first transfer, I spent KES 30000 on both building materials and construction labor while putting up the kitchen. I am glad we have a separate kitchen, there are no more frequent coughs and running noses in my family. KES 22000 I spent on both poles and wire mesh we used to fence our compound. We feel more secure and have some privacy in our homes. I am now thinking of extending to poultry farming since we can easily confine poultry within our compound having fenced it. KES 2700 I spent on a few foodstuffs for my family.