Sharing a house with my daughter-in-law is something that is a taboo in our society. This has robbed away my joy as a mother since my son cannot spend nights at home. With the desire to have a separate house, I intend to spend half of the transfers ($550) to construct a decent house for myself. This will bring me peace of mind and eventually restore my dignity. On the other hand, I will spend the remaining amount to support my daughter in school, buying a modern bed and a mattress as well as buying two goats to act as my long-term investment project. This will change my livelihood for the better and thus, this is basically what receiving this money means to me.

I have for many years heard of support for orphans by the government but this luck came to my children in December last year. They were enrolled in the program and they are also expecting some cash income of $20 per month for social protection. This program will go directly in supporting them in school. I am so glad as a mother to have different support this year including that of GiveDirectly which I am also much optimistic about their payment.

Being a widow is an experience that has forced me to live a very desperate life with my family of 3. The jobs that are available in our community are strenuous and require a lot of energy. These include charcoal burning, seeking casual jobs in neighbours' farms among others. The payments from these activities are very low, usually $5 in a day. It's worse when I have to focus on charcoal work since it takes me three days to make the $5. Considering this little income, meeting our very basic needs is a challenge and the most affected sector is the education of my children. This pains me most and I usually feel, the lack of a reliable source of income as my biggest challenge.