After building myself a house, something that I really longed for, I now have plans of starting a Mpesa shop business. The capital needed for it is KES 30000. Using the funds I received from give directly, and the savings I made from the earnings I get as a shepherd, I managed to raise KES 28000. Once I get to start the business, I will get to be self-employed and with better earnings to help in providing for my family.

Give directly has done extremely well through its cash donation programs. Many in my village, many have gotten to improve their lives. As for me, I now own a house and a cow. Before, I used to live in a small room together with my sibling that my mother built for us. I felt I needed to progress so I may be ready to start a family. I believe I will now be able to accomplish this. I have not yet noted an area where the organization has not done well.

After the passing of my father in 2014, my mother was left to solely fend for us. Through her farming, she managed to put me through school and keep supporting my siblings. After school, I started working as a shepherd so I could earn some money to help her out with the payments of the family bills. The job only earned me KES 5000 which quite limited me. But when I got my transfer from give directly, my life improved. This is because I used it to buy a cow for financial security. I then got to build myself a three-bedroomed house and got to move out of the 1 roomed house my mother constructed for my sibling and I.

I received the money at around 10:00 pm just when I was about to retire to bed. I couldn't t believe that GiveDirectly had finally honored their promos of sending us money. I felt so happy that I was finally going to be able to start building my own house and make a step towards being independent.

The biggest difference in my daily life is the independence that I have achieved from these transfers. Having built a new house and moved close to my family has given me peace of mind and restored the dignity of life that I almost lost. Living in someone's house came with its fare share of challenges as it was even evidenced upon receiving the cash. The person in whose land I was living wanted me to give him all the money but I stood my ground and made sure that I built a new house and moved closer to my family. Right now I work for myself in our farm contrary to before when I worked for someone for very little income at the end of the month.

GiveDirectly transfers came at a time when I had used my savings to buy building materials. I kne it would take me long before I could finish construction of a new house. I had bought a few iron sheets and was willing to sacrifice even more to buy building materials as I moved towards living an independent life. This was a major booster to me as I used almost KES 45000 to buy timber and other building materials that I had been unable to buy. Right now the house is almost complete only remaining with doors to fix before I can finally move in. I was living in someone's house and I did not know the dignity of living in my house. I always looked forward to having this feeling but the little income that I got from my casual job was hardly enough to help me put up one in a very short time. I am happy that the newly built house is a lost comote and I have also been able to buy livestock-an investment that will help me in future to meet the cost of my family's needs. We are a family of 9 but currently my two younger siblings look up to me to provide basic household needs as we help one another with my mother. We lost our father a while a go and life has been quite challenging on our on. We feel happy that GiveDirectly came in handy to hold us up and propel us to even greater heights.