"It was just another hot afternoon,  3 p.m had just passed, and the fatigue of the day was beginning to set in. I was at home, doing one of my thousands of chores, when my phone began to buzz. I answered it expecting a mundane message from my service provider, but it was a Mpesa message confirming receipt of funds from GiveDirectly into my mobile wallet. I was overjoyed! I couldn't believe they'd kept their word."

"I got divorced with my wife, Ethel Kondwani back in 2018 and since then living alone has had its ups and downs. However, currently my only challenges are poor housing and hunger. This house leaks whenever we are experiencing heavy rains in this area. This, coupled with my torn and worn out beddings on the floor, gives me restless and uncomfortable nights and days. Like I have mentioned earlier, I rely on my small business of making bamboo mats for food. Unfortunately, due to the declining sales I have been making I am unable to sustain myself from these sales. For example, back in 2018 I used to make $8 to $10 a month from my sales but now I only make $3 or $4 a month. This brings about a hunger challenge in my household."

"Currently my challenges are poor housing and lack of food. With my age and deteriorating health I am still forced year in year out to cut grass and thatch my house for it leaks if I don't do that. I wish I lived in an iron roofed house but due to financial constraints I am unable to attain that dream. Furthermore, as you've witnessed in my house, I have zero food stock and this means that I have to go out and look for pieceworks in order to find money and buy food. From this, I make $2 in 3 days which I use to buy a maize for food that only sustains me and my grandchild here for a day or 2 then we are back to starving. These are the hurdles that I am currently facing."

"Currently as a household the only challenge we are facing is hunger. Due to lack of food we only manage to have a single meal, thus, lunch or supper in the quest to ration and save some food for long sustanibality. We understand this is not healthy especially for my breastfeeding wife here but then what can I do I have no where to rely on apart from the pieceworks which are hard to find at present here in our area. In the previous months we used to find pieceworks where we'd get paid $9 but now we are only able to find those that pay $3 which is only to buy maize for food that lasts for 3 to 4 days."

"Last month, thus, January 2022 my spouse, Andrew Wilison fled the village, after receiving a social cash transfer from Evack organisation, to Phimbi where he's re-married. I believe the my marriage is over. This has brought in a burden for me to take care of my kids as a single parent. Currently, my only challenges are lack of food and decent housing condition. I have to rely on pieceworks to find food and when I don't get those then it means me and my children, Jeffrey, Ali and Ide, sleep on empty stomachs. This is happening two days a week as I am speaking to you. Additionally, this house leaks when there's rains and this renders me helpless and restless especially at night."

"Currently, the only challenge I am facing is hunger. Having to take care of these 2 grandchildren of mine, Gift and Hajira Wilson, is an everyday struggle for me with my deteriorating health. I have zero food stock at present and hence I have resorted to finding and doing pieceworks in order to get paid and buy food for my family. Depending on how much I am paid on my pieceworks, on a good day I make about $2 which is enough to buy maize for food for 2 or 3 days then I go again. This is not easy for an old lady like me. Some days we sleep on an empty stomach due to lack of food."

"Eversince the demise of my wife, Margret Baluti last year on 6th December I have been struck with loneliness in this household. All my 3 children are away in their respective marriages elsewhere, these would have kept me company if they were here at home. Additionally, I am presently worried about my food stock levels. As you've seen in my house I am only left with a single bag of maize flour which may take me through a month then after that I need to seek from only God knows where. These are the only challenges I am facing."

"I received my first transfer while living on a tenth of an acre with my two children. I intended to use a portion of the first transfer to purchase additional land, but because I could not get a plot to buy, I put the money toward other income-generating projects. I spent $500 after receiving the second transfer to buy a fifth of an acre from a neighbor. I am pleased that I was able to make the payment in a single deposit and that I was given the right to begin using the land while we processed the title deed. I used the remainder to buy food for my family of three and am relieved that my two children have been eating healthy since then. I am grateful for the help I received from GiveDirectly and hope to continue working on the projects I started."

"The challenge in my home is money. We have no money to buy more land because the land we have is small. We also need money for clothes and food. We go out to find casual work but often don't make enough to cater for all. So we live in poverty."

"The biggest challenge in my house is food. This is because we don't have money to buy food. We rely on farming but with the rains it's difficult to harvest enough for the year. We had 5 bags last season which only lasted about 4 months. The rest of the year we've had to buy."