Having my own house has really transformed my life. To me, this is the biggest difference that I can proudly talk about. The transfer helped me to construct a decent spacious house. I have regained respect in the village which is worthwhile. I did not have friends because of my poor condition. To say the truth this was the worst days since I could feel lonely all to myself. During rainy seasons, I used to suffer because I was always rained on. It is a relief because I do not worry about the rain anymore. My children will also no longer seek shelter from their friends' homes. The new house has brought joy in my family and it has united us at large

In my opinion, GiveDirecty did a very good job in our village by enabling us to exploit our potential. The majority of us have now started businesses that have already uplifted our living standards. Previously we used to depend on our farming activities which were seasonal and this made us languish into poverty for such a long time. Some evident changes have been seen such as flourishing businesses. On the other hand, most of us sleep under permanent houses. Previously, we were sleeping under some grass-thatched houses which were so leaky. In addition to that, most of us now own livestock such as goats, cows, chicks, and sheep. At least we can rely on them in case any crisis arises unlike before. I can not point out anything that GiveDirectly failed in its operation.

I spent my part of the second transfer on buying a dairy cow and goats worth 45000 KES. For a very long time, I had admired them. I thank GiveDirectly since they have given me a chance to own my dream asset. I then cleared medical bills. My chest had been aching for quite some time now. I am now doing better courtesy of GiveDirectly's transfer. Apart from that, I also bought a bed at 7000 KES. I have been sleeping on the traditional bed made of some ropes which were so uncomfortable leaving me with sleepless nights because of backpains. I count myself lucky because today, I enjoy a peaceful sleep. The other concern was purchasing enough foodstuffs for my family because during the last harvest season I hardly got anything due to the long droughts

I have been longing to have a permanent house for a long period of time. But the income I was getting from the sale of charcoal was very little I could not afford to construct one. After receiving my fist transfer my first thought was getting a decent house. I thank God because I managed to construct one, and this has made my life to be totally different so far. Previously we used to sleep under very small hut which was leaking during the winter seasons. My children and I were not at peace, especially at night. We used to sleep at our neighbor's and relatives' houses and we were not comfortable. For now, the story is different after constructing my own house. We are now leaving happily as a family.

It was around 7 am when I heard my phone vibrating so loudly. Since I am illiterate I decided to call my helper to check who could have sent the message at that time. After checking she realized it was an mpesa message from GiveDirectly. I was overexcited after getting the news since I was assured of achieving my goals.

I spent part of my first transfer on buying some building materials such as iron sheets, building poles, timber, and some nails. This was purposely for the construction of a new house because the previous one was very small and in a poor condition. Whenever it could rain, I did not have peace because of the leaking roof. I then bought some goats as my assets. I opted to buy them because they mature faster and reproduce twice a year. I then bought a mattress because the previous one was very old and I was always complaining of back pains. I then cleared some bills and the remaining amount of money, I bought sufficient foodstuffs for my family.