For a long time now, I had been dependent on the milk buying and selling business that turned out to have been straining of late. With my advanced age, I had been contemplating venturing into a retail business. I had been making small savings that I believe will enhance the opening of a shop and equipped with various items that can serve the immediate community. With this, I will get some time to relax, attend to my job within comfortable hours, and also serve all the needs my community could require at all times.

In my opinion, the great changes in our village are the results of the support we were promised and received from GiveDirectly. From the enrollment to the receipt of the transfer, the officers who had visited gave us clear information and assurance that came to pass when we received all the transfers. Everything was done so well that even those who never got a chance to be part of the program understood how everything was carried out. I am grateful and wish that all other villages would get the same opportunity to change their living standards.

Before receiving the second transfer, I had only one dairy cow on my field that serves not only my immediate household but also my children who have moved to their houses with their families. Everyone within the compound had been expecting at least a liter or a cup of milk for their households. I saw it good to spend KES 27000 from the second transfer on obtaining six months in-calf heifer. I am hoping to alternate their breeding seasons in the future to enhance a steady supply of milk in all seasons thus cushioning us from buying. I also invested in the new pieces of furniture worth KES 15000. I had been using a piece of old furniture that was not comfortable to sit on and I am now happy that the transfer has given me a chance to change it. I later used the remaining amount on foodstuff and clothing for my family.

I was very happy when I received a confirmation of the receipt of the transfer through SMS. This was an assurance that the promise I was given in the past weeks was true. I had been in deep doubts even though other members of neighboring villages had received, but had to wait till that very last day when I saw it hit my account around 9:00 am. At that moment, I was out in the village collecting milk from the farmers that I later took to the shopping center where I had been reselling at a profit. I had to keep working and later informed my family members in the evening when I came back home. Everyone was happy as well and my husband was grateful that we could start putting the money on all that we had always wished to do.

Purchasing a lactating cow that is now providing enough milk for my family of three is the biggest difference in my daily life after receiving my transfer. It was a great honor from GiveDirectly to give us such huge support that has completely changed the face of our family. Getting enough milk without buying has enabled my business to flourish as well, and my savings are better now compared to the previous months when I would sometimes have to obtain a loan to keep my business going. I am looking forward to expanding it and better still will be glad to see our dairy cow provide enough milk for sale in the future.

After all the excitement on confirmation of the receipt of the transfer, we sat down with my husband, planned, and later started the first project that we considered huge and a top priority to our household. Even though I had been buying and selling milk from farmers around, providing two liters daily to my household was so expensive to me and could always consume much of my running capital. To stop this, we saw it appropriate to obtain a lactating dairy cow that would instead provide my family of three with enough milk every day. I spent KES36000 on securing a good breed to add to the herd of 3 heifers that we already had on our farm. We are now enjoying enough supply of milk and my business is running smoothly after injecting KES 3000 from the transfers to replace the frequent chopping we had been doing when we don't have separate money to source milk. I also spent KES 10000 on paying school fees for my son who is currently in form three. He is settled in school and has never been sent home since then to collect the school fees as they used to before we received the transfer. With the remaining amount, we bought foodstuff and other household goods that were missing.