Since the plan to buy a piece of land has been implemented, I hope to continue increasing my savings in order to purchase a piece of land for my family of three. Along with the subsistence farming I have been doing, the small group we started in our village has been instrumental in keeping my commitment to save for the land. In the group, I have been depositing at least $20 per week, and during harvest seasons, I have been saving lump sum amounts after selling surplus produce. I also have a small poultry project that I hope to expand in the future because it has always kept track of household goods and other minor bills.

GiveDirectly did an outstanding job in our village, as evidenced by a high level of information clarity and fairness in the enrollment process. Everyone is pleased that the process was not biased and that it gave everyone a fair chance by visiting every household and listening to every village member. I, like everyone else in our village who received the transfer, have seen a lot of positive changes since receiving the money and am grateful to GiveDirectly for their generous support. Even though some villages were not enrolled, I am hopeful that they will be considered so that the cash transfers can improve their living conditions.

Since his mother died when he was young, I've been living with my grandson, who is also my helper. During this time, I have supported him through primary and secondary school, and he is now enrolled in a college program, where he will soon take his final exam. I am grateful for GiveDirectly's support in offsetting the huge school debt that had forced my grandson to stay at home. I paid $270 from the second transfer to clear the arrears, and he has never missed a class since. I also had a plan to buy more land for my family of three and had been saving money for it through subsistence farming on leased land and small savings groups that we started in the village. My house is currently situated on a quarter-acre  plot of land, which is insufficient to farm and produce enough food for my family. So I saved the rest of the money, and hopefully I will be able to buy some land soon.

I felt so happy the moment I received money from GiveDirectly. I got to learn from my helper since I do not read nor write. It was very interesting for me to receive such huge amount of money from GiveDirectly

The biggest difference in my life is the investments that I made with the money. I am a much more happy person than I was before receiving money. Having bought a dairy cow meant that I got more peace and got to be more optimistic with life.

I used KES 40000 to buy a heifer and saved the remaining to buy food and my own clothes. I chose to buy a dairy cow since I did not own one yet this is one of the main economic activities that we rely on here at our place. I look forward to having it produce enough milk and enable me make life for us as a family better each day.