I am a widow and the property I can peg on to date are the five cubical rentals my spouse left for me 12 years ago . For those years I have been doing causal jobs around the village unfortunately the income could barely support any development project but rather basic household needs such as food and school fees . This lead to the houses deterioration and , as a result, I had to lower the rental charges to lure the tenants who felt the conditions of the house didn't warrant their habitation and the one tenant who had second thoughts of relocating to other rentals left two months ago . This was a big loss to me because I was not able to cater to my daily needs and to make matter worse , I was unable to raise money to take my child to school , therefore, she had to drop out for a while . With GiveDirectly's transfers I am glad that I have renovated them hence my certainty of doubling my income through these house shall be realized after the completion of the renovation . Meeting my family basic needs especially paying my child's education will no longer be a problem . At the moment she is in school since I used part of the second transfer to enroll her with .

In my opinion, GiveDirectly has done well by giving out money to improve the living standards of the poorest individuals in my community. I am a personal testimony of how GiveDirectly transformed my life . Today, I have the opportunity to see my child who had dropped out of school due to financial constrains attend school which is a fulfillment as a parent.

I spent my second transfer on purchasing building materials for the purpose of renovating my rental cubicles through cementing, putting up modernized windows and doors . Ever since I started renovations , people have come to ask for reservations for these houses . I feel I am empowered and I appreciate GiveDirectly for opening opportunities for me at a time I never expected .

Before the coming of GiveDirectly, I had begun a project of renovating my house. When I received, this transfer, I purchased building materials which include cement, sand and blocks to make my house to be a permanent one. It was previously mudded, and my ambition was to upgrade to a better and decent house. It's through the financial support from GiveDirectly that I was able to accomplish this. To me, upgrading to a better house is the biggest difference in my daily.

I saw the transfer message early in the morning as I had woken up to the news from neighbours that GiveDirectly had finally sent the promised transfer. Upon realizing this, my heart was filled with happiness.

I was previously staying in a mudded house and my desire was to at least upgrade to a more permanent house. I had begun the process of renovating it but due to inadequate materials, I could not finish. Because of this, I took KES 36000 from my first transfer and purchased several bags of cement, sand, doors and windows to complete the renovation of my house. I purchased everything I required for the accomplishment of the rebuilding of my house. I spent the remaining amount to pay school fees for my child who had been sent home. I paid this money in advance so that my children would continue with their studies without any interruptions. This has given me adequate time to prepare for the next term.