Plastering will make the houses in my neighborhood more appealing, attractive, and safer from wild animals such as snakes. There are currently a lot of snakes around that come to our houses, and because the houses have rough walls, the snakes can easily climb on the walls. Plastering the outer walls will make it difficult for them to climb because the wall will be slippery. In that sense, once I get some money, I intend to plaster all three houses.

Everything, from my perspective, proceeded smoothly during the entire program. Though they don't have families, I believe you should also recruit young people who can support themselves. Because of the high unemployment rates in the nation, the transfers may be able to assist individuals in becoming financially independent.

By the time I received the second transfer, I had already decided how I was going to spend the money. I am a father of six children. Three boys and three girls. Since I already build a house for the boys, it was now a turn for the girls to have their own house because they are grown-ups. Therefore, I bought 14 pieces of iron sheets for $105 and three ridges for $11 and the labor charge of the contractor was $100. Currently, I am happy to see that my girls are comfortable in their house unlike before when they were not free since we slept under the same roof. After that, I paid $120 in school fees for my two secondary school children who had some fee arrears. Since hunger was a challenging factor since we have been without rain for the last three farming seasons, I bought a 90kg sack of maize for $75 and a bale of maize flour for $24. I did this to ensure that I have enough food for my family at home.

As I was on my way home from a nearby shop where I had gone to buy a 2kg packet of maize flour to cook some food for my eight children, I received a message on my phone. Upon checking, it was the first transfer of $550 from GiveDirectly. I cannot tell what I felt due to the happiness that engulfed me. Food had been a major challenge for me to provide for my family. I was left picturing how my life was going to change while slowly walking home.

Initially, my living condition was pathetic. Getting some food was a big challenge. I had to look for casual labor, make charcoals and fetch some firewood for sale; it was tiresome. Currently, I took a break from these kinds of work and I get enough food unlike before because of the transfer I got from GiveDirectly. In addition to that, I managed to construct a new house at a good strategic place where I will not be bothered by running rain water any more even if it rains heavily. I give my gratitude to GiveDirectly for seeing me through this situation.

Since my house was on a water-flowing side during the rainy season, I had a plan of building a new one at a higher ground place for safety. This remained to be a dream since my business of charcoal burning could not enable me to build a house. When I withdrew the money, the first thing I did was buy a sack of maize for $70. This was a priority since food has been a challenge for me to provide for my family. Thereafter, I decided to settle the housing issue by constructing a new house in a better place. I bought 30 pieces of iron sheets for $285 and 8 ridges for $28. Since I did not want to incur more costs, I opted to cut the building poles by myself from the nearby bushes. As of now, the house is almost complete and I am happy that I will be in a safer place even if it rains heavily unlike before. I also used $120 to pay school fees for my two children who had been sent out of school due to school fees. As of now, they are comfortably settled in school and conducting their studies.