I had desired to build a permanent house for a while, though I had no regular income. A situation that made me to forget about that dream. My current house, is mud-walled, with rusted iron roofs. Therefore, it frequently leaks whenever it rains. My goal for the upcoming year is to finish building the new house, which is currently three-quarter complete. Consequently, I will be moving into a better, more comfortable place. I will not have to worry about getting rained on as in the past. Moreover, my children will enjoy sleeping in a better place.

GiveDirectly focuses primarily on reducing poverty in underprivileged neighborhood communities. It does well in implementing its cash program in poor villages. For instance, its program has improved the lives of our community members. People who were living in difficu6 conditions have chosen to build permanent houses. There is a sizable portion of new houses built, and livestock acquired in the entire village by locals with the transfer. Initially, we could not do this due to our limited purchasing power. There is nothing that GiveDirectly does not do well.

I first purchased construction materials with the initial transfer. I spent $450 on initiating building a permanent hoise when I received the recent one. My new house is bigger than the one I currently live in. Although it is not complete, I plan to complete it by the end of January 2023. About nine people make up my family, and I only work as a chef in a small restaurant in Kilifi while my husband works a part-time job there. I, therefore, spent $15 on food and $40 on the school fees for my six school going children. We have made positive progress in our lives courtesy of the transfer. I had not thought I could build a permanent house in my lifetime.

I was busy doing my evening household chores when I got a message alert on my phone. When I checked the contents of the message, I realized that it was a Mpesa message. I had received my first transfer from GiveDirectly. I felt happy and thanked them for supporting me financially.

Building a new iron-roofed house is the biggest difference in my daily life so far. It would have taken me years to achieve this had I not received the support. I tried to save some money but it was not enough for this project. I am grateful to GiveDirectly because I am in the process of building my new house. I purchased enough construction materials which include building stones. I am glad that once this house is complete, I will no longer be worried about heavy rains unlike when I had to seek shelter from neighbours.

I have been planning to build a new house since the one I am currently sheltering in is in a bad shape. I was always worried that it might collapse on us because it is not stable. It was also leaking whenever it rained and I could not renovate it on time. I am at peace now because after receiving my first transfer, I decided to build a permanent house. I spent Ksh. 30000 and purchased building stones to start the construction. Apart from this, I also spent Ksh. 10000 and built a pit latrine. I was using my neighbours' latrine with my family but it was exposing us to health problems since many people were using it. Having my own latrine will help prevent health-related issues and my family will be safe. I spent the remaining transfer on buying enough foodstuffs which include maize flour that can serve us for a month and also ensured that my family enjoys three meals a day.