Our new goal is to fence the whole of our land and to start a better business that can sustain us. I want to do the fencing so that I can lock up the sheep in one part of the farm and leave them to graze. This way I will have time to do other things and not worry about them going to other people's farms to destroy crops. I usually go to the market on market day to sell the woven ropes that I make and to sell eggs from my chickens. I, however, do not usually stay up to the end of the day since I am constantly worrying thinking that the sheep might have gone away to cause some destruction. As a result, I always end up coming early hence fewer sales and money. We do not have the money to do the fencing but that will be topmost priority if we get the money needed to do so. If we manage to do this, I will hence be able to concentrate on improving my business. I plan to buy more chickens so that I can get more eggs for sales. With the expanded business, I will be able to get more income that will help me in payment of school fees for my five children who are in secondary school. Payment of school fees has always been our biggest challenge since we do not have stable sources of income. My husband usually goes to do casual work in a nearby county so that we can raise more money for school fees and the family upkeep.

GiveDirectly did well when they decided to hold a meeting with the village people before starting the enrollment process. The people got to understand more about the program in unison. I also find it good when they walked around the village with the village elder. This way, most or all people in the village will be enrolled since the village elder knows all the people who belong to his village. I would like to urge GiveDirectly to continue with the same spirit of helping the needy.

We spent the second transfer money on two things that were important to us. We bought sheep and paid school fees for our children. We decided to buy the sheep because they usually reproduce and multiply very fast. We plan to sell some of them in the future and use the money in paying school fees for our children. Our children were going to be sent home due to the school fees arrears and hence we decided to clear the balances. We were not in a position to do the above before since we didn't have the money. My husband is a casual laborer while as for me, I usually sell woven ropes and eggs to get money. The little money that we make most of it usually goes to school fee payment of our five children who are in secondary school. We are hence grateful to GiveDirectly for their help. Our children are studying well and they haven't been sent home. We also managed to buy sheep that are going to help us in the future.

It was 9. am in the morning as I was getting ready to release my cows out to the grazing fields. It was a little bit gloomy with light rains falling in very fine drops. I had to cover my phone with polythene paper that could keep the raindrops off. In the process of wrapping it up, I noticed that I had a message that completely changed my plans after reading it. I had received the transfer that I had been anticipating from GiveDirectly. With great excitement, I called my husband, informed him of the good news that excited him as well. Since he was far away from home, he advised me to withdraw it the same day, and make any purchase that I could following the budget we had prepared. I managed to pay school fees immediately after withdrawing and brought the remaining amount home that we later spent with my husband.

The biggest difference in my daily life is the joy of meeting all the financial obligations that I had in school for my four children. With the two of them currently in their final year, it is a great feeling that they are now enjoying ample study time without any interruption.

For a long time now, my husband has been working on the casual labor that we had been dependent on alongside a piece of the fine craftsmanship of rope plaiting using sisal that I had been doing. The two have been our main sources of income that had kept our children schooling and also providing all the household needs. With the increasing amount of school fees that we ought to pay for our four children in secondary school, the small income was no longer sustainable. On receiving this first transfer, I was happy to clear their school fees as there was a deficit of KES20000 to allow them to sit for their examinations. I am glad they are now settled and working hard without being sent home. I also managed to obtain a solar panel currently useful in home lighting both for the interior and also providing security lighting for our livestock as the immediate forest harbors wild animals that attack our livestock at times. As a form of investment, I obtained a heifer worth KES15000 to add to the already existing herd. With the remaining amount, I managed to obtain foodstuff, bedding, clothing for my children and also added some kitchenware that we were still lacking.