I do casual jobs in town from which I normally get my daily bread. My goal has been to open a cereals shop that I can sell maize. Because of this, I leased two acres of land in my rural home, cultivated and bought enough seeds and paid for all the labour expenses and planted maize crops. I am hoping to obtain a good harvest from this, which will enable to achieve my dream of having the cereals shop. Also, it's through this money that I managed to complete the construction of my house that I had installed for years in my rural home. Lastly, I have been able to cater for my household basic needs such as food and clothing, and also set apart some amount for saving for the future.

I have worked as a labourer in construction for long without any other source of income to depend on. However, I now have a new goal of making an investment in cereals. So far, I have leased a two-acre land and planted maize crops, which I am hoping to harvest enough to facilitate the opening of my cereals shop, as I think of other products to add on.

I spent a larger portion of my transfer to engage in farming of maize crops. My aim is to produce maize that will enable me to sell in town. Through it, I will have an alternative source of income because the casual jobs are some times not reliable. I paid for the cost of labour, seeds and other essentials on farming. I also spent KES 15000 to cater for my parent's medication. I also bought a new set of TV on the remaining amount as well as meeting some family basic needs.

My life is currently different from how it would have been had I never received the transfer since I have been able to lease a farm unlike before when I used to dream of owning a business. I will plant maize on this farm which I will later use to start my cereal business. Apart from getting maize from the farm to use in starting my business, I will also get some for my consumption. Starting a business will make me become self-employed and I will leave doing some casual work at the construction sites.

At the moment, the new goal for my life that I didn't have before receiving the transfer is to buy a piece of land back home. This is because the land there is still cheaper compared to buying it in town. I settled on land because I have so many brothers and the little piece of land my parents own will not be enough for all of us to build our houses there.

I am planning to start a cereal business here in Nairobi where I will be selling majorly maize flour and beans. As a way of kickstarting this, I decided to lease two acres of farm and to lease a tractor to till it using my most recent transfer. I decided to plant maize instead of buying them since its production cost is quite cheap compared to buying them. This will help me earn more income. During that time, I did not manage to do some work so that I can get money to use in paying my house rent since I had traveled back to home. Due to this, I spent the remaining amount to pay my house rent for that month in order to avoid having a misunderstanding with my landlord.

Since I now know that Givedirectly fulfills their promises, I am planning to start a business of buying and selling cereals. I prefer this kind of business since it is rarely operated by many people and I will be selling different types of farm produce in one store. I believe that I will be able to make more profit when I operate this business since all of my products will be basic needs which most people do not go for a day without them.

Before GD came to enroll us at Mathare, I have been avoiding visiting home as I knew the predicaments awaiting me there. I thank God now since all this is in the past as I have been able to build a house for myself and this is the biggest achievement in my life which has changed my daily life from a day full of worries into one full with happiness.

It has always been my dream to build myself a house back at home since I used to sleep at my neighbors' house whenever I visited. When I received my first transfers, I spent part of it in buying building materials and in building my house. I spent the remaining amount in paying my house rent since I had not paid for that month and it was overdue.

It was in the morning when I woke up and discovered that I had received the money I had been promised by Givedirectly. At that instant, my troubled heart brightened and was filled with happiness since I knew that my a long-awaited help had come to relief me from my daily worries of how to get money to fulfill my needs.