The previous house I had was dusty and unstable. The walls had cracks and I always left in fear because the house would fall anytime. When Give Directly came into my life I decided to save part of the transfers on Mshwari. I'm glad I managed to raise enough money to plaster my house. The house is currently neat and less dusty. In addition to that, I have been able to comfortably meet the family's needs without having to sell part of my farm produce.

For the next four months, I have plans for rearing crossbreed chicken. With these, I'll be earning from both their eggs and from the chicken too. I'll be selling the chicken after brooding thus I'll be earning double. I have therefore started saving my monthly transfers so that by the time four months elapses, I will have accumulated enough money to start this project. I thank Give Directly for empowering me financially because without them I would have not reached this far.

For the last four months, I have been able to comfortably meet my family's needs. Before I had work extra hard to ensure we at least have food to eat. Since I relied on casual jobs, we would at times sleep hungry especially during the bad days when I couldn't find casual jobs to do. I had to sell part of my farm at some point in order to raise money for meeting the family's needs. I'm glad this is not the case anymore. I used the transfers from Give Directly to invest in farming. I feel so proud and happy because I believe the harvest we got will sustain for the whole year.

I have plans for saving the coming transfers and use them to purchase chicken for rearing. I believe that in the next six months I'll have raised enough money and most likely the number of the chicken will have increased. I know once I establish this business I will officially stop doing casual jobs. This investment is enough to run my family and meet all our basic needs.

My life is currently different from how it was four months ago. I managed to plaster my floor using the payments I got from Give Directly. This has brought a change in my life because I now have more time to do other activities. Cleaning a plastered flour takes a very short time and I use less water compared to the mud floor. I also don't have to repair the floor more often. It will take several years before I think of repairing this plastered floor. I used to be afraid of contacting respiratory diseases from dust on the mud-walled house but I am glad I plastered it before getting sick. Thanks to GD for enabling me to do.

I don't have an additional goal at the moment. I want to continue investing in the poultry farming that I had started doing using the previous transfers. I need to put more money into this project in order for it to grow. I have to add more chicken and buy more chicken feeds and extend the structure I had already built for them. Once the business is well established and has started making good profits is when I will think of pursuing other goals.

The biggest difference in my daily life is that I am happier and ambitious in life. Through the payments I got from Give Directly, I finally manged to plaster my house and started a poultry business. This makes me happy because life is easier and manageable. I find it cheaper to maintain a plastered house compared to a mud-walled one. It is also easier to clean plastered houses. The poultry project generates income which supplements the wages I get from casual jobs. Even though it has not started making huge profits, I have hopes that It will grow and make more profits that will enable me to achieve my long term goals.

I expect my life to change in the next six months because I will have bought a cow. I plan to buy a cow because there is high demand for milk in this area. Animal feeds also do well in this region and I think I should take advantage of that. I also have enough space and equipment and the right skills for rearing a dairy cow. I will, therefore, continue saving my monthly income and buy a cow.

Four months ago, I had a thin old piece of mattress to sleep on that hurt my back and made my nights very long and uncomfortable. I could not sleep well as most of the time I would have back pains caused by the bed. In the last few months, I was able to buy a new mattress which has made my life much better because I sleep much better.

I have been saving some part of these transfers each month because I wish to have enough to purchase the required materials to plaster my house which is currently made of mud and gets destroyed each time it rains, especially the outer part. This usually forces me to buy smearing soil after every rainy season to repair the damaged areas because our type of soil is not suitable for house construction. This is just not costly but also tiring as am not as energetic as I was years ago due to my old age.

I used to struggle a lot to fend for my family because I am the sole provider for my family. I would be forced to work even when I was not feeling so well. With these transfers, I am able to take a break especially at the beginning of the month when the money comes without having to worry about what my family will eat.

I expect that in the next six months, I will have plastered my house and relieved myself of the stress of constant renovations that usually come after every rainy season.

My life is currently different from how it was four months ago because l have been paying for my grandchildren school fee without and difficulties.

I do not have any goal a part from plastering my house.

The biggest difference in my daily life is that l have managed to save and l am still saving the money because l am very sure and hopefull that l will achieve my dream of plastering my house.

In the next six months expect to have started plastering my house.

I am planning to plaster the walls of my house to be able to prevent the rains from bringing the walls down given that the walls are made of mad.

Currently I do not need to borrow money when I am in need unlike before I had to go borrowing money from friends to survive when I was faced with household difficulties and financial crisis.

In the next six months I will be living healthy and much comfortable. I will be having income monthly thanks to GD

The biggest difference in life since I started receiving payments from GD is now I am able to pay my grandchildren's school fees. It makes me happy when my grandchildren are at peace and in school with no fee arrears.