"Since May 2021, my husband who works as a policeman has not come home and this has left me as the sole provider for the family. Because of this, we are faced with the challenge of lack of food since I depend on occasional casual work to provide for my family. School fees have become a challenge also since my children who are in secondary school have fee balance summing up to $510 dollars. It saddens me so much whenever my children are chased from school because of a lack of tuition fees."

"The challenge I'm faced with at the moment is my old age. Currently, I have difficulty walking which has made it tough for me to cater to myself and my grandchildren. I have to depend on my grandchild for everything. I feel that I'm becoming a burden to them since he has school-going children. I also lack food to eat and when my grandchild fails to provide I end up going hungry. Life is really tough for me."

"Financial constraints pose the greatest challenge to me. I solely rely on the motorcycle business and supplement it with farming, both are unreliable sources of income since with farming unpredictable rain patterns affect yields and on the other hand, I get $2 each day from the motorcycle. When my son joined the school, I was unable to pay for all of his school fees for a lack of money. If I had a better source of income, I would be able to meet my family of four basic needs comfortably."

"I am an active part of a merry-go-round saving scheme and part of the funds from GiveDirectly were quickly diverted towards honouring that obligation. I further bought myself a mattress and a metal box for storage purposes. Stocking up food in the house was a priority as well, and I quickly ticked that off the to-do list. I had fallen ill in August of 2022, rendering me incapable of going to work, hence the transfers were used to cover my medical expenses. I had been previously tilling the 7acre plot of land, growing mangoes, coconuts,maize etc for domestic use. The other huge chunk of the funds went towards paying school fees for my children. I have 7 kids. My eldest is in college at Kilifi Polytechnic,studying construction. We pay $40 per month for his tuition. The 2nd born is joining junior secondary at Silala Primary this year. The 3rd borns' tuition is $13 per term at Viluake Primary, while the 4th and 5th born go to the same school and need $12 each per term in tuition. My 6th and 7th were in the same school, but had to drop out due to funds. It's evident to see, from my narration, that the funds from GiveDirectly were a much needed salvation from the struggles that have been curbing my family and I. We are eternally greatful."

"We currently don't have our own land to be able to have what to eat we have to rent from others and to get that money we daily work for other people..this makes us work twice than we should because we work for others to get money for rent and then we come back and work in that rented land which us quite tiresome. We don't even have our own livestocks, we have to herd from others to be able to get fertiliser to use which is not enough and we can't afford the inorganic fertiliser and this affects our productivity. Our children currently don't have school uniform and other materials they need because we can't afford it , we worked hard to get them school fees which we pay in installment because we can't get it all at once , and our children studies in fear that they will be chased out of school and this sadness us because there is nothing more that we can do to change that situation."

"My current two-room house is growing smaller for my growing family. The eight children have to occupy one small room while their mother and I use the other. I would like to build another two-room house to accommodate my wife and me, and leave the current structure to my children. Since I have building expertise, I work on the project by myself to cut labor costs. Therefore, what I need is at least $200 to buy iron sheets and building poles. I pray that I get calls for more jobs so that I can provide for my family while I save the cash transfers for the construction project. "

"So far, the cash transfers have been my only stable and reliable source of income, considering I do not have a job or business. They have helped put food on the table and keep my children in school, and I could never be more grateful. Having two children in high school, I prioritize funding their education until they are done with the basic levels of education. This will also apply to those in elementary school. In fact, as we speak, my second last born is set to join kindergarten in a few months' time and I intend to start saving towards his admission expenses. "

"I am a mother of four children, the last of whom is a son. Life was challenging before I started getting these transfers, I could borrow money both from friends and merry-go-round to sustain my family and also sustain my small charcoal business. The second transfer helped so much and I spent the sum of $130 to cover my last-born son's college tuition for the second year and $100 to purchase four goats. I have also planned to market my charcoal business with at least $100. Since my separation from my husband and our decision to go our separate ways, I have had no land, so, I used $100 to pay off the debt I had from buying land. Thank God, I'm steady now and the little money I have left is to help my family buy food and other basic needs."

"The main challenge we are facing is poverty, we don't have money, there sometimes when we borrow money so that we can pay health insurance. The other challenge is that my sister has finished learning to use sewing machine and we are worried about where we will get money to buy the machine so that she can start working and get money to support us at home."

"The economic activities in our area are farming and charcoal work. These are energy-intensive activities and they require maximum use of the hands. Last year, I got involved in an accident that broke my right hand. This has compelled me to remain inactive at home since I can not take up strenuous work. I am currently depending on my sons who are casual laborers and their incomes are not enough since they have responsibilities in their families. In most cases, I survive on one meal, a situation that has affected my health. What a life!"