My only wish and goal is to give my children a better life. As part of the projects these funds financed, I forgot to mention a solar system I installed. The ability to have hot water or use electrical appliances when needed, is the kind of positive change I am aiming to implement in my children's lives.

To state the obvious, GiveDirectly excels at making those in society who are struggling, lift themselves up with pride and dignity. As a recipient, I will always be greatful. As for how to improve, well, more transfers wouldn't hurt! There will always be needs and one will always need assistance, and if GiveDirectly could from time to time offer additional financial support, I'm sure all beneficiaries would continue to further their lives positively, continuing on the journey GiveDirectly has set them upon.

In order to understand the impact that GiveDirectly transfers had on my life, one must consider the circumstances we were in as a family, at the time. I had previously been a house manager at Ganze, earning KES. 4,000 per month as a day bug, before it all went away. My husband was also and still is, out of work and we still had to provide for our 5 kids. With the cash injection, we were able to build a house. I bought 11, seven foot, Iron sheets, at KES. 9, 700, along with framing timber at KES. 70 a piece and with that I was able to accomplish my building dream. Having resorted to tilling my 1.5 acre farm, the drought has been hitting us heavily, and meeting expenses such as school fees for my eldest 4 who go to Ganze and require KES. 1,500. For the one in Grade 5, KES. 1,000 ,for the one in Grade 4, KES. 3,000 for the one in Grade 2 KES. 890 to keep learning at Ganze Primary school, while my youngest in PP1 needs KES.400, per term. Since I lost my job in June after getting sick, GiveDirectly has been my only refuge, words cannot begin to describe how i feel inside!

I work as a housemaid. On this day, while I was busy going about my normal duties, I heard an alert on my phone informing me of an incoming message. Since I am illiterate, I ignored it and waited till evening when I went back home. I then asked my husband to check it for me. He did and informed me that I had received funds from give directly. I was ecstatic. When we were registered for the program, we had plans of building a more comfortable and conducive home for our five children and us. The one we had had polythene roofing so it was very cold at night. A week later, we started purchasing some materials to start working on the project.

The greatest difference I noted in my life ever since I started receiving these funds from give directly is having a new comfortable home for my family and I. Even though it is not complete, as we are remaining with only a small portion of the roof which requires around KES 15000, it has been a while since my five children contracted a cold. This is because our previous home had polythene roofing and it was very cold at night. Even worse, it would leak when it rains as it had some holes. I no longer have frequent visits to hospitals, saving me some money.

I used to live in a single-roomed polythene roof house. It was normally very cold at night and even worse, during the rainy season, it would leak. This affected my 5 children who would often contract colds. Thereby resulting in my seeking costly medication that my husband and I couldn't afford. As we earned very little from our respective jobs, where I am a housemaid earning KES 4,500 per month and he is a builder although he earns KES 1000 per day worked, he rarely got contracted. So, when I got the funds from give directly, I used KES 20000 to buy some tree logs, another KES 20,000 to buy some iron sheets, to cover the cost of labor, I used KES 10,000, and the remaining amount I used to buy more materials and also payment of my children school fees.