Since I received the second transfer, I have been running a restaurant business in the nearby shopping center. The food business has been doing so well that I am now thinking of expanding it to opening a retail shop. I had been sourcing most consumables from the nearby shops and wish to be supplying them from my shop as I sell other goods to the other customers.

GiveDirectly set their standard quite high compared to all other organizations I have ever heard of within the village and even in other villages. Sending us a free cash transfer direct to our accounts was the first unbelievable till the day we received it. The support that we got was not a loan and everyone was given a chance to spend confidently on whatever they felt fit for the transformation of their families. Before GiveDirectly, I was used to seeing organizations giving their donations in material goods and the beneficiaries could not choose what they want but received what they offered. With GiveDirectly, the challenges within the household informed decisions made. Everything was well done, and I am grateful for the generous support.

Raising a family of five alone has been a challenge without a constant income-generating project. On receiving the second transfer, I could not miss a chance to spend a junk of it on opening and running a small business. After studying the market trends in the immediate shopping center and the competitive nature of the running businesses, I settled on opening up a restaurant that offers breakfast, lunch, and dinner services to the immediate customers. Since it was a new business in a new shop, I spent KES 40000 on buying kitchenwares, fitting the counters and shelves, buying a new piece of furniture, and buying the first foodstuff we cooked. In the beginning, it was a challenge estimating the amount of food to cook since I was never sure about the steaming in of customers, but I am glad that there is no wastage at the moment and the profit margin keeps widening. I also spent KES 8000 on buying farm inputs for the already prepared piece of land, and the remaining KES 5000 on foodstuff for my family of five. I am grateful that has given me a reliable source of income and have been able to feed my family alongside other bills I have been paying.

I was very happy when I first received the first transfer from GiveDirectly. I had lots of financial challenges at that moment that even though I had lots of ideas, I could not implement since I was already operating in debt. I had to inform my children whom we were together at home that evening and visited the nearby shopping center the following day, where I collected the total amount.

The biggest difference in my daily life is the peace of mind and a life free of stress since my children are fully back to school and on the other side I have been able to run all other business operations smoothly with hope of expanding once the construction is complete.

I spent KES 40000 of the first transfer on the purchase of the construction materials to use in the construction of a business structure. I had been operating a small food joint in a rented temporary structure on the roadside. Construction of my own will save a lot on the rental charges I had been paying and will also give me an extra room where I can open up a retail business. The two will mutually operate since most of the goods sold in the shop will be required in the restaurant and, in return, the profits will be useful in restocking the shop. I also spent KES 5000 to clear all the arrears for my two children currently in primary school and spent the remaining on clothing and foodstuff for my family of four. I am grateful for the support that I received from GiveDirectly and looking forward to further investing in the second transfer in my business.