I had been running a retail shop in the nearby town where I managed to inject KES 10000 after receiving the first transfer. The shop has been doing so well and has been my hope to soon restock it further intending to meet all customers' needs and, in turn, increase sales to realize a better profit margin. At the moment, I don't have any new goal but a work in progress since my business has been on even before the receipt of the transfers.

In my opinion, GiveDirectly brought a great change that we had never experienced before in our village. Every family was and is still thankful to GiveDirectly for giving them a chance to make spending decisions that affected their living standards. I have no complaint at all since everything went as it was elaborated at the beginning of the program, and the satisfaction is also evidenced in every family who received the transfer and spent in the best way they wanted.

The first transfer that I received facilitated the initiation of the construction work of my new house. Previously, I was living in an old structure that was also small and would always leak on the roof whenever it rains. On receiving the second transfer, I had to complete the remaining part of the construction, did the interior furnishing, and also purchased furniture and new bedding at KES 15750. I am glad that the house is now complete and can comfortably accommodate my family of three with my only son having his separate room. I also spent KES 8500 on bringing in two goats that I am rearing for milk and multiplication to later sell their offspring. In our village, I have a team of 32 members in an informal saving group that we started a year ago. Each member is expected to contribute KES 1500 every week that is, in turn, deposited to an individual's account in a rotational format that ensures every member gets his turn before the cycle is complete. This has been a great saving scheme for me and has been much supportive in school fees payment and even on boosting my retail business. I had to save all the remaining amount after spending KES 5000 on clothing for my family members as this has been funding the savings every week.

It was a very hard week for me without even a single coin in my pockets. A message confirming such a huge amount hitting my account that morning gave me the greatest feeling ever. I had been planning with the hope that soon, I would be getting money and indeed God never let me down with the promise I had been given by GiveDirectly. I was alone then at home and amidst my excitement, my only son who I had been living with after our separation with her mother arrived on a motorbike. I had promised to construct him a house and use the remaining amount in improving my farming practices. I informed him of the good news and later visited the nearby town where I withdrew all the amount in preparation for the first purchases.

The biggest difference in my daily life after receiving the first transfer is the construction of a new house that has finally brought my son closer to me. It is a good feeling seeing him around at the moment and even though we are not working currently on the same project since he has been doing some casual jobs in the nearby town, I am hoping that we will be planning together whenever he is home.

After I separated from my wife 22 years ago, life had never been that easy as I had been working hard to raise my son I was left with through his schooling. I had been working on the casual labor that pays me at a range of KES100 to KES500 whenever I get one a day. I am glad that my son just completed his grade 12 and currently looking forward to furthering his studies in college. Life has never been any better for him too as he has always stayed in his grandmother's house where he was always assured of a place to sleep and at least a meal whenever he is not in school. With the first transfer, I had promised myself to construct him a new house of his own so that he may come home and work closely with me on the currently running projects on my farms. Buying all the construction materials, and later paying the labor charges on the construction site, totaled to KES39000. This put a smile on my son's face as he came thanking me for considering a house for him at home. With part of the remaining amount, I also invested in farming as it has been the only assured source of income and also foodstuff for the household. So far I have purchased seeds and tilled the land ready for planting. I saved the remaining KES12250 that is currently useful in checking and replenishing household foodstuff as well as serving any arising emergency. At the moment, I feel energized and working hard to ensure that I keep my family going.