It had always been my dream to buy a tank for water catchment and storage. My area had always experienced prolonged drought and this leads to rivers drying up in the area, with this, getting water had been quite a challenge, and therefore I had planned to spend $350 of my transfers on buying a water catchment tank that would help to end my struggles.

GiveDirectly is doing a great job in terms of providing financial support to the less fortunate in the society like me. I have so managed to have electricity and a water tank courtesy of GivedDireclty and also many people have managed to achieve their dreams. I addition, GiveDirectly is doing everything great and there is nothing to improve on.

The financial support that I received from GiveDirectly was like a God sent because it had been of great support to me. Over the last months, we had been experiencing much drought, a situation that made most of the rivers within the area dry up, and since I also did not have any water storage tanks/containers, I had been undergoing many struggles in terms of storage. The transfer that I received was of great relief to me because I managed to buy a 5000-litre tank worth $350 for water catchment, something that I had been longing for, though I could not get it earlier due to financial constraints. I now feel happy because I will no longer have the same experiences as before. With the transfers, I also managed to pay school fees worth $150 for my child who is currently in his final year of high school, bought clothes for my children worth $8 and also bought food for $42. Thanks to GiveDirectly for enabling me to fulfill my dreams.

After reading the message, I realized at a glance that I had received the first transfer from GiveDirectly. I was with my daughter at the time, whom I informed as we confirmed together. Despite the fact that it was already 5:00 p.m. when I saw the message, I couldn't wait until the next day to withdraw because I was afraid of mobile money fraud. I had to collect it the next day from a nearby shopping center because I had spent all of my money on it.

The biggest difference in my daily life is the presence of electricity in both of my homes. Previously, I relied on a lantern lamp and, on occasion, a rechargeable emergency lamp, both of which were difficult to charge. I'm glad I saved money on energy and saved the time I would have spent walking to and from the shopping center to charge my phone.

I am a single mother of two sharing my home with two other relative's children.  Despite the fact that I was paying their school fees solely, I am relieved that they were able to progress through the system to their final year of secondary school without being barred from attending classes. They had $150 in school fee arrears before their exams, which I am glad to have cleared after receiving the first transfer. This enabled them to obtain their certificates as soon as their results were available. I also spent $170 to connect electricity to my house after years of using a vintage lantern lamp and a rechargeable emergency lamp in the absence of kerosene. At the moment, both the kitchen and the main house are well lit, and the electricity bill is 50% less than it was when a lantern lamp was used. In addition, I spent $120 on a heifer to supplement a neighbor's lactating cow that I keep on my farm. I needed to start rearing mine as well, so that I could add milk production in the future and also serve if the owner took back the currently lactating one. With the remaining funds, I also purchased construction materials to build a new kitchen. Despite the fact that the construction is not finished, the few materials that are already in place have been put to use as we prepare for the second transfer.