I did not have a new goal. My main goal prior to receiving the transfer was to build a better house for my family. This is because we used to live in a small grass thatched house which could not host all my family members comfortably.

GiveDirectly does well by giving money to the poor in the community to build better houses and to pay school fees for their children. I do not find anything that GiveDirectly did not do well.

I spent KES 40,000 to complete the construction of my house that I started using the first transfer. We used to live in a small grass thatched house which could not host all my family members well. I depend on small scale farming, I do plant maize and beans. This was only for consumption, I did not had other source of income apart from that. I used KES 6,000 to purchase food, tables and sofa set seats for the new house. The rest of the money I paid school fees for my children in various primary schools. I am so grateful for the support because GiveDirectly has changed our living standards.

It was 9 am when I received a message informing me of the money that I had just received from gievDirecvtly. I was coming back from the river at that moment and had to be a bit faster as I could not wait to confirm from my neighbors whether they had received the same too. I was full of excitement as it just dawned on me that the plans I had been making after enrollment were finally coming to pass after receiving the money. I thanked God that GiveDirectly came in to hold my hand in providing for my children after my husband passed on.

After clearing the huge debt I had in the hospital, it was a relief to me as it has been one of the triggers of the stressful moments I was undergoing. The debt though was not the major one as I had been struggling as well to put up a new structure to replace the old kitchen that had been serving a lot of purposes despite its squeezed space. On the construction of a new one that is a bit spacious to completion is so fr the biggest difference in my daily life. My children currently enjoy the extra space where they can comfortably sit to complete their schools assignments every evening.

With the first transfer, I spent approximately KES30000 on obtaining the construction materials that included 24 iron sheets each at KES750, nails, building poles, and also paid the labor charges on the construction of a new house to replace the old kitchen that was already getting smaller for my family of five. I am glad that we now have an extra room where my children can study and later sleep in. It has been so hard initiating a new construction due to the huge bills I had been paying both for the household and also in school for my two grandchildren and two sons since their father passed on. My mother-in-law passed on also months ago leaving a huge debt of KES23000 in the hospital that I had to settle with the remaining amount since the hospital expected all the payment from me since I had been the one taking care of her. I am glad that I am now free of debts and motivated to do even more projects with the second transfer.