As a mechanic, I have been facing a lot of challenges since I do not have most of the basic tools. I am at times forced to rush to our nearest town to purchase them which is almost 15 kilometers from my place of work. I recently bought some spanners using part of my second transfer and having fulfilled that goal, I am now planning on acquiring some spare parts. This will always save me the time and money I usually spend rushing to the town to acquire them. In addition, I will be able to attend to more customers unlike now when I sometimes lose them to my competitors when they cannot hold back for a while.

In my opinion, GiveDirectly does well by transforming people's living standards in different ways and I do not see anything that they do not do well. With financial aid, people were able to build better houses, pay school fees and purchase livestock among other things. I had been living in a small grass-thatched house but I am glad that I now live in a more spacious iron-roofed house courtesy of GiveDirectly.

I bought a dairy cow worth KES 43000 after receiving my second transfer. We settled on this as a family since buying milk had our routine and it is expensive. Even though we still buy them, I am glad that this will not be the case very soon as it is almost calving. I am a mechanic and I do not have most of the tools needed and I have been depending on borrowing them from my fellow mechanics. The transfers came in handy since I was able to spend the remaining KES 9000 to purchase some spanners.

We had woken up a little bit earlier that morning to attend to the small piece of farm in our homestead with my wife. At around 9 am, I received a message from GiveDirectly bearing the good news that the support we were promised was finally in our accounts. I was so excited that I had to dash towards my wife who after confirming it also, she was equally excited. We could not keep up with the work we were doing on the farm anymore and we had to move out, get prepared, and visit the nearest shopping center where we withdrew all the money.

The biggest difference in my daily life is the ability to purchase all the construction materials ready to put up a new house for my family. It has been in our plans for a long time but the unreliable source of finances could not allow us to make consistent savings. I am glad that it is finally happening after receiving support from GiveDirectly.

After sharing a single house for a long time with the other three members of my family, I am grateful to finally construct an additional house after receiving my first transfer. I spent approximately KES40000 on paying the labor charges, obtaining 22 iron sheets, building poles, nails, and other necessary construction materials. I had been hoping to upgrade from the small grass-thatched hut that had been our main house to a bigger one that can accommodate all my children and also visitors whenever they visit. I also managed to obtain new clothing for my three children, my wife, and also mine with a total cost of KES 8000, and finally spent the remaining KES4000 on obtaining a sack of maize currently serving our foodstuff needs. I am glad that all these had been possible and now I am looking forward to the next transfer so that I can spend on the new projects.