My dream has always been to own my own business. I'd love to have a lovely grocery store in my neighborhood. a reliable vendor to whom the community would turn for good service and high-quality produce. I believe this will become a reality one day, and with it, our household's financial situation will improve.

GiveDirectly has excelled at finding a fruitful way to motivate people, both physically and mentally. They enable you to realize your dreams and, as a result, find the peace that only achieving your dreams can provide.

My business is burning wood and selling charcoal. Not an easy job and certainly not easy money, but it's what I do. Selling a sack of charcoal at $4 makes it difficult to supplement my husbands income from his quarry job. The cassava, maize, kunde, and other cereals we grow on our 2-acre farm are barely enough for us, let alone for sell. Needless to say, meeting expenses was unsurprisingly, difficult. My Grades 6,5 and 2 children each pay $5 per term in school fees at Mwenge Primary School, while my Grade 1 ,last born, pays $8per term in tuition. Compared to the earlier figures I mentioned as my earnings, it's easy to see why I consider GiveDirectly the lighthouse that guided my family out of financial demise. With the remaining funds, I build a one-bedroom house with a scenic verandah where my guests and I can sit and enjoy the evening breeze. We planned out the remaining funds by purchasing three female goats, clothes for the family, and stocking up on food stuff for the house , GiveDirectly made our dreams come true in the most incredible ways.

As I was on my way to the water point to fetch some water, I received a message on my phone. Since I do not know how to read, I gave the phone to a family member whom we accompanied to the water point to check and interpret for me what it was all about. When she checked, her face glowed and I wondered what kind of a message it was. She politely and happily said that I had received the first transfer of KES 55000.00 from GiveDirectly. My heart leaped and I ululated in happiness for the good news.

The biggest difference that is a result of the GiveDirectly transfer is like a miracle to me. Initially, we used to squeeze the nine of us into a small house of one room. This was not hygienic and also there was no privacy but due to poverty, I had no alternative. As of now, I am happy that My children have their room though it is not enough but compared to where we were this is like heaven for us. This miracle came as a result of GiveDirectly and I can sincerely say that, if it were not for this organization we would be still squeezing in the same room with my children.

The first thing I did after withdrawing the money was to buy 10 pieces of iron sheets for KES 9800.00. I already had a few pieces which needed some addition to enable me to add a second room to my small house which was not enough to accommodate my family of nine people; seven children and us the parents. I also bought some timbers for the roofing for KES 5550.00 and the contractor cost was KES 3000.00. Thereafter, I bought a mattress for KES 4600.00 and a bed for KES 7000.00 for my children because they had no proper bedding and they used to sleep on the floor. In addition to that, I bought two goats for KES 5500.00, paid KES 2500.00 for school fees for my four school-going children, and bought a solar panel on hire purchase by paying a deposit of KES 1600.00 for lighting purposes because the paraffin bills are expensive.