Our new goal is to find a way to get money for paying school fees for one of our children who recently joined secondary school. We had another child who recently completed his secondary school studies. Getting money for paying his school fees was quite a challenge since we do not have stable sources of income. I use to supply some of the milk to his school to pay part of the school fees. I also usually depend on casual jobs to earn a living. The money that I get paid is not much, it is usually only enough to buy food. My husband on the other end is casually employed as a guard at a school. He usually gets paid KES 5000 per month which usually goes to the payment of school fees for the children and buying food. Other than the above, we also have a goal to buy chairs. We had managed to build another house with the first transfer but unfortunately we didn't manage to buy the chairs since the money was not enough and we had other more important things to do.

GiveDirectly did well because their transfers helped us a lot. They changed our lives for the better. Their staff also taught us well in the meeting that they held with the community members before they started the enrollment process. They were also not biased since they enrolled everyone in the village and everyone got the transfer. I hence do not see anything that I would recommend to them to change.

We spent KES 20000 of our recent transfer on building a boy's quarter for our son. He didn't have a place of his own where he could sleep and study and hence he used to sleep in the kitchen house of his other brother who is married. It was always our wish to build him a house of his own but we didn't have the money to do so. Most of the money that we make usually goes to the payment of school fees and buying food. Other than that, we spent KES 7200 on buying two bags of maize for our consumption. I then took KES 10000 that I used on starting a business of buying and selling milk. I started the business so that it could help me get some income. I, unfortunately, had to close it since most of the money that I was making went to the payment of school fees for my son who was in secondary school. We also contributed KES 2000 of the transfer amount that was used in paying a land surveyor. Our family land was being subdivided among us and each of the seven families was needed to contribute KES 2000 for paying the land surveyor. The remaining transfer amount, we used on buying clothes for the children and paying off some of the debts that we had. We are hence grateful to GiveDirectly for their support.

The moment I received the transfer I felt so happy. I remember it was around 9am. When I heard a message tone from my phone. I was cleaning the utensils. When I checked it out, I could not believe my eyes. It was a message confirming that I have received money from GiveDirectly. I have never received such amount of money before. My family members felt so happy and they really celebrated. I knew I would be able to build a better house. I am so happy and grateful for the support.

The biggest difference in my daily life is that I have build a better and spacious house for my family. We used to live in a small house which could not host all my family members comfortably. I depend on casual jobs and small scale farming. The amount of money that I get through these is so small and it's only for household basic needs and school fees for my children. I didn't had an extra income to purchase the building materials and build a house. This has always been my dream but it was possible because I didn't had the money. Currently I have a decent and spacious house. I no longer stress up on where to host my relatives and friends. This is the big investment that I had wished to build. I am so grateful because GiveDirectly has changed our living standards.

I spent the money I received from GiveDirectly on building a better house for my family. We used to live in a small house which could not host all my family members comfortably. I paid school fees for my son who is in secondary school. He was able to study well without being sent home. The rest of the money I bought food and clothes for my children. I am so grateful for the support.