My new goal is to build a shop within my compound and to buy a few sheep. I live by the roadside and hence opening a shop will be convenient to me since it will be able to get income for paying school fees for my two children who are in secondary school. I have a grocery stand by the roadside where I usually sell vegetables, dry maize, and fruits mostly in the evenings. During the day, I usually go out to look for the items to sell and this is tiresome since I am growing old. The items at times get stale when they are not bought and this is a loss. The shop business is better because the items do not usually go bad easily and I will no longer have to move around looking for the items for sale. I will hence have time to look after my livestock.

GiveDirectly did well when they decided to go house to house enrolling people. This shows how humble they are. They delivered the promised money which helped the people in the community in a big way. Their lives were uplifted especially for those who were most needy since they were able to make many developments with them. I do not see anything that they need to change because the way they conduct their work is good.

I spent KES 20000 of my recent transfer money on paying school fees for my two children. I am glad that I was able to clear the whole term's school fees and hence my children have been able to study well without worrying that they are going to be sent home due to arrears. I also bought some of the items that I was missing in my house. I bought chairs, a bed, a battery, and a television. I am happy that these are the things that I had always wanted to have but due to lack of money I was not in a position to buy them. I now can sit down and catch up on my favourite programs over the television. With the remaining transfer money, I used part of it in buying food and I invested a little of it in my grocery business. The business is what usually helps me in raising money for paying school fees for the two children who are in secondary school. I also usually buy trees, cut them down and I supply firewood to my children's school. I still have some money with me which is helping me in purchasing food and household items such as soap, cooking oil, etc. I am thus stress free and so much grateful to GiveDirectly for uplifting our living standards.

I was very happy and thankful when I got a message confirming the receipt of my first transfer. It was so timely for me receiving such help when I needed it the most. I was away from home when I received the message and lucky enough I was with my helper whom I gave my phone immediately after getting the notification tone so that he can help me in reading it and confirming the content as he has always done whenever he is around. It was a great day that even though we were at a funeral then, I had a good feeling inside my heart knowing that the projects I had been thinking of will soon be initiated once I withdraw the received amount.

Clearing the debt I had and settling all the school fees for the ongoing semester for my two sons is the biggest difference in my daily life. I had been struggling a lot to raise their school fees from the small farming activities I had been doing even though they have never been sufficient. At the moment, I can relax knowing that all the major financial obligations I had have been met and will be able to raise enough for the following terms from the improved farming I am doing at the moment.

Since my husband passed on some years ago, I had been raising my children alone. I am grateful that my sons have been so supportive that the absence of their father could not be easily noticed. All the farming activities have been going on as they were before and much more after receiving the first transfer that played a great role in our farming. I hired a tractor to ease the land preparations, obtained certified seeds, and also managed to pay the labor cost after planting. I spent approximately KES14000 on all farm operations I did, and I am glad that I managed to plant all the farms I had been prepared for. I also paid school fees for my two children currently in secondary school. Since they had previous term's areas, I had to spend KES 20000 to cover both pre-existing debt and the ongoing term. With the remaining KES20000, my elder son had suggested that I should at least obtain a new piece of furniture. I managed to do exactly that after purchasing a sofa set, new bed, and also bedding that have made my nights comfortable and better than before.