My ambition has always been to open a hotel. Make delicious cereals with peas and other beans, ugali, chapati, and other regional favorites. I believe that when it comes to business, you can never go wrong with food, and that is one area where I believe we would excel. In the long run, seeing my children succeed academically and live a better life than me and my wife would be the ultimate goal.

My community rarely has much to celebrate. The occasional wedding, but even those are fleeting. GiveDirectly has made the entire village, recipient or not, aware of our people's calm, peace, and joy, and this is where GiveDirectly's magic lies! They improve people's lives while expecting nothing in return.

The first transfers from GiveDirectly directly enabled me to begin construction on my house, and the second transfers ensured that I completed construction on the three-bedroom house and verandah. It had always been a dream of mine to have a place for my children and I to call home. My wife is mostly a stay-at-home mom, so I am the sole provider. We object to being paid $3 per day for casual labor. Despite her farming our 3-acre land for domestic use, there is little else coming in, in terms of income. Needless to say, funding our six children's education was difficult, and the funds from GiveDirectly were extremely helpful. We spent $23, $18, $16, $13.50, and $12., which is what we pay for our students in Grades 8, 7, 5, 3, 1, and 2 at Kalongoni Primary School. The last two benefited from the food and other home supplies I purchased to keep the house running. I couldn't have done half of what we did without the assistance of GiveDirectly. They will be remembered by my family for the rest of their lives.

It was around 9 AM when I was heading home from a shop when my phone started ringing continuously. That was a nitifucation of an incoing mesage. However, since I was a bit tired I decided to rush home. The phone rang again and I was a bit curious since I was not expecting to hear from anyone at that particular time. I decided to check its content. I was so happy after realizing that it was an Mpesa message from GiveDirectly. I had to share the news with the other family members and we were all thankful for this blessing because we knew that finally, we would shelter in a better shelter.

The biggest difference in my daily life is that through the transfers, I was able to renovate my house which had a leaky roof and some of its walls had holes all over. I was always uncomfortable because during the winter seasons we had to seek shelter from neighbors. Having a family of ten members it wasn't easy for us to acquire the shelter and it reached a point they started complaining and stopped welcoming us like they used to. Therefore we had no option than to sort ourselves and this meant squeezing ourselves in our small house which I was worried would collapse someday. I had always been praying to God to at least bless us with the little cash so that we could end this menace. Being jobless, I only depended on my spouse who is a casual laborer earning KES 200 a day. The coming of GiveDirectly has completely transformed our lives and I no longer have to worry about the rains and even the wild animals at night that have been attacking us sometimes. I will forever be thankful to GiveDirectly for everything they have done to my life.

I spent a huge part of my first transfer on buying some building materials which include; thirty-six pieces of iron sheets, nails, timber, and labor cost at a total of KES 40180. This was for the renovation of my house since it had an old roof we would always be rained on every winter season. Also, some of its walls had cracks all over and we were also attacked by some wild animals like rodents. In addition to that, I cleated school fees for my six children who are in the nearby neighboring school. I am happy they no longer miss classes like before. With the remaining amount of money, I am using it in buying enough foodstuffs for my family.