Comparing my current life and the one I was living before, there is really a very big difference. Farm operation is going on well and also living in a well furnished new house at the moment is a good feeling ever experienced by every member of my household. All these would not have been possible without GiveDirectly and we are forever thankful for the kind support.

In my opinion, GiveDirectly did a very good job in our village. They gave us an opportunity to choose what we will use the money on and after receiving everyone made a decision which to me I believe it was the best.

Upon receiving the second transfer from GD, I spent all of it on construction if a new house. I had to buy iron sheets, woods, sand, cement, and also hire a constructor who worked diligently to ensure that my new house was constructed to a completion. We were in dire need of a new house after living in an old grass-thatched hut for a long time. Currently, we are happy that we have a spacious room with everything in it being new.

The biggest difference in my daily life is that my family now feeds well unlike before. Before we at times used to take one meal a day or two but this is now different. This is because I majorly depend on the money I usually get after selling milk to my neighbors and this is always not enough for me to use in buying food. Buying three sacks of maize flour has enabled me to reduce my daily expenditure and I can now afford the basic needs we do not have.

It was early in the morning after waking up when I decided to request my son to check for me the contents of the messages I received at night. When he informed me that GiveDirectly had sent the promised money, my heart was filled with happiness. This was majorly contributed by the fact that I would be able to buy enough food for my family.

When I received my first transfer, I used part of it to buy three sacks of maize flour so that it would relieve me of the cost of buying maize flour daily. Apart from that, I also bought six plastic chairs and two three-seater seats. I decided to buy these seats because I had very few that were not enough for my whole family. I have been using a kerosene lamp for a while and it is very costly and not bright enough to light my house. This prompted me to buy a solar panel and battery for lighting purposes in my house and also paid the cost of installing it. I am now glad since we have security lights on throughout the night. As a way of investing this money, I bought five goats for rearing and some chicken. This will help me in case of a financial crisis since I can easily sell them. I used the remaining amount to buy some farm inputs and hired a tractor to till my farm in preparation for the planting season.