I spent $ 400 on purchasing a piece of land from my neighbor. I had a small piece of land and this was liming my farming activities. I have always wished to have a much bigger land to keep my dairy cow and plant Napier grass. This was not easy because I did not have the money to buy land. When I receive the transfer from GiveDirectly I saw this as an opportunity for me to invest in purchasing land. Currently, I have enough feeds for my dairy cow because I have planted napier grass. Milk production has increased compared to previous years. I am so grateful because GiveDirectly has changed my living standard. The remaining amount of money I spent on food and medication because I was feeling unwell

The enrollment was done well without any discrimination and most of the people who qualified to receive the transfer spent it well. Most people build better houses and even invested in dairy-keeping projects. I do not find anything that GiveDirectly did not do well.

I wish to focus on dairy production and ensure that I have enough feeds for my cow because this would increase milk production. I will sell the surplus milk and get some income to meet my basic household income.

We spent KES 25000 of our recent transfer on buying another cow to add to the one that we had. We bought it so that it can help us, when one cow is dry, we can still have a supply of milk from the other. We can sell some of the milk when the cow calves and get income for sustaining ourselves. My husband and I are getting old and we are no longer able to do heavy work. I also spent KES 7000 on paying for national health insurance coverage. I decided to take the insurance because I don't usually feel well due to my old age. I was recently diagnosed with high blood pressure and I will be required to go for check-ups every time. I hence thought it wise to have an insurance cover instead of spending cash which is expensive. We also took KES 10000 that we spent on cutting down trees for timber. We had built a house before but we were not able to complete it because we lacked money. We still had two children in secondary school and hence we were struggling with the payment of their school fees. Other than that, we spent KES 4000 on tilling 4 points of an acre of our land and we bought maize seeds for planting. We also bought a bag of maize for our consumption at KES 4000 and with the remaining transfer amount, I spent it on buying clothes for ourselves. I still have a little bit of money left which I am planning to use as my fare when going to the hospital for a check-up.

The transfer has brought a very big difference in our lives as a family. We are happy to see what we managed to achieve with the transfer. We now have another cow that is going to help us when it calves. We can sell some of the milk and get money for our upkeep. We are getting old and we are no longer able to do heavy work. Other than that, we also managed to continue with the construction of the house that we had left pending for a while. We also managed to plant and the maize crops are doing well at the farm. All these were only possible because of the help from GiveDirectly. We are thus so much grateful.

It was 7 am and I had just woken up. I was in the kitchen lighting up the fire so that I could prepare breakfast for my family when suddenly my son who is my helper called me to ask if I had received the transfer. I told him I do not know since I had not heard it ringing and I do not know how to read. I hence took the phone to my husband to check it for me once I was done talking with my son. He checked it and he confirmed to me that indeed we had received the KES 55000 that GiveDirectly had promised us. I was so happy on hearing this and we thanked God for the blessing.