I highly depend on subsistence farming for a living. When the drought hit us, it became very difficult to grow any crops. Consequently, my son’s studies were adversely disrupted due to unsettled school fee arrears. The priority is to fully fund his education and see him pass high school academics so that he can get into a great university. So ever since the transfers started coming in, I have been directing the entire amount, KES 3000, towards his school fees.

My recent transfer came when my first born had just gone back to school.I was in arrears of Kes 39,600 so the first thing that came to my mind was to send the Kes 3000 received to partly settle the debt.I was certain it will buy me more time as I look for the rest of the cash.I am grateful because my child was not sent home at that particular time.

I am very thankful for the funds I receive because I have casual jobs here and there that help me earn some money which helps me take care of the day to day activities. But the money that I am now getting has given me a financial boost which helps take care of other bills like tuition fee.

I happen to have four children who are still studying but one of kids who is in highschool and he had a very huge balance in tuition fee which was KES 29,000. So when I received the money I went ahead and paid some part of his tuition because I wanted to reduce the debt gradually since I did not want my child to be sent home and miss out on his education.

I always wake up early. So on this fateful day, I was headed to work and on the way, I happened to meet some Give Directly staff who were going about their business. After sharing with them warm greetings as our culture does require us to do, they did inform me that I should expect funds in my account any time that day. I went ahead to my work area and later that day I received a confirmation message about me receiving the funds. I was a happy man. I informed my wife and later that evening when I was back home we sat down with my wife and planned how best to use the money.

The biggest difference in my life is that I am now able to pay school fees for my children without much struggle unlike before. In addition, I am leaving a stress-free life because I don’t have to struggle much as I did before. Now that my daughter’s school fees have been taken care of I am very happy and thankful for that. 

I spent a large portion of the money on paying school fees for my daughter. I believe in girl child empowerment. During my time when I was a kid, the girl child was neglected and no emphasis was taken to educate them. I now want to change that with my daughter who is currently in form 2. When I received the money I used all the amount to pay her school fees. I want her to be able to continue with her education without any hiccups. I am thankful that the finds were made available and I did pay for my child's school fees. I have other children who are still young compared to the one in secondary. I want her to perform well in her studies so that her siblings and look up to her and also help them out.