Before receiving the money I had plans buy better beddings like a mattress and a bed and also improve the roofing to my house since it was grass thatched. Apart from that I also wanted to be able to at least manage to own some livestock that I could rear and that could possibly benefit me in the future.

I am very thankful to GiveDirectly because it has helped me tremendously cause I was in a very difficult position financially but with the transfers I even managed to help my son pay for college which makes me very happy as a parent because my occupation included me farming for people and get paid minimum wages which was not enough to help pay for my sons education.

My husband happened to have passed away a long time ago since my son was a toddler and raising him alone has not been easy so after I received the money I handed him KES 23,000 of which he topped with his own savings so that he could go to school. Since I had plans to own a couple of animals, the first transfer helped me get beddings including a bed and a mattress since previously I slept on sisal beds which were very uncomfortable sometimes so I bought couple of goats so and with the second transfers I got four more goats which cost me KES 13,300 and then I also bought a sack of maize which was worth KES 3,000 plus the fare which was KES 200.

It was around 7 AM when I was still on my bed when I heard my phone vibrating in a way that, was an indication of an incoming message. I, therefore, decided to check what the message was all about since I was half awake. On checking, I realized that it was the long-awaited Mpesa message from Segovia Technology. I was so happy and I remember sharing the good news with my children who were fully awake. We celebrated and started thinking about how best we would utilize the money.

The biggest difference in my daily life is that though I have been able to keep goats in my homestead. I settled for them because they require minimal supervision and their offspring mature very fast as compared to the other domestic animals. I have however been yearning to at least keep them for years but I could not afford them because they were too expensive. Having in mind I am a widower, my spouse left two children behind and I have been the family's breadwinner since then. With the meager income from the cauls jobs meaning KES 200 a day wasn't enough for me to purchase any kind of livestock using my cash. Therefore my plan is that when they reproduce and multiply, they would help me in paying school fees for my children since it has been a major challenge all along. I am now positive that, I will be able to take them to higher learning institutions without even straining and I am so thankful for that.

I spent part of my first transfer on buying a wooden bed and a mattress at a total of KES 12000. I had to prioritize this because I have been sleeping on the traditional beds made of ropes which I was experiencing lots of discomforts. In addition, I bought livestock more so four goats at a total of KES 15200. These are now the living assets that I am relying on. I later cleared a hospital bill for my son who has been ailing for quite a long time but because I am a widow and very poor I could not afford to raise the medical charges. Later on, I paid school fees of KES 3000 for my son who is still in primary school and I am happy he is no longer being sent home regularly as he used to be. With the remaining amount of money, I bought enough foodstuffs for my children.