"Since my husband passed away two years ago, I have been the only one paying for our children's school costs, clothing, food, and other necessities. Our house was not in great shape when he passed away. You can understand how difficult it is to meet all of their expectations given that I only generate a $4 weekly profit from the charcoal business that I own, especially given the current surge in commodity prices. My modest income prevented me from building a new house, but I'm delighted that the transfers allowed me to replace the roof. Our lives are in danger because the wall is still cracked throughout, allowing stray reptiles to enter the house. So, my current objective is to rebuild the walls. I'll do this by setting away $15 per month to buy the necessary construction supplies. I'll start raising hens or goats for future investment once I've finished it.."

"I intend to concentrate more on farming to make sure that my family is sorted food-wise. With a great supply of foodstuff, other basic needs will be easy to manage. I also would like to start my own business of buying and selling livestock."

"As I was busy planting some maize seeds on the farm, I heard a message tone from my phone. Due to curiosity since that was the exact day I was expecting to receive some money from GiveDirectly, I left for home immediately to get someone to check for me. When I reached home, my helper was around. He checked and confirmed that it was true I had received the first transfer of $550. My heart cooled down in happiness and I was filled with peace knowing that, the investment promise I kept to the officer was going to pass."

"A month before the enrolment, my house collapsed. This forced me to move to my lastborn son's house. This state did not give me peace of mind since I was not as free as I used to be in my house. I felt my privacy is being tampered with and I was not in a position to build a new one since I relied on charcoal burning. When I withdrew the money, the priority was the house. I bought 14 pieces of iron sheets for $133, building poles, rafters, timbers, and nails. Apart from the iron sheets, I cannot tell how much the other materials cost since my son was in charge of buying them and supervising the construction. Currently, the house is still under construction and I decided not to use the money in any other thing until the house is complete. Although I am still staying in my son's house, I am very happy that my house will be complete soon and I will move in."

"I am planning to hire a tractor to assist in farming my piece of land of 10 acres, which is about kshs 50,000. I do subsistence farming for a living and when it is done by casual workers it is time-consuming and very expensive. I am expecting to have a good life, with the good rains I will harvest about 25 bags of maize and beans, of which I will use part of it for consumption while the rest will be for sale. I will therefore open a savings account for my children's school fees. This will help in paying school fees in advance and I am expecting them to have good grades which will be a factor when choosing the best courses to undertake in college education. I am having an additional goal of buying a brand-new motorcycle on loan. It costs kshs 400,000. This is meant for business purposes, especially during online deliveries."

"My children having a good bed and mattress, the fact that we now have a decent house to call home and having visited my ailing father makes me really happy. All these have brought so much joy and difference in my life and that of my family. They are the things that I had always desired to accomplish but which I could not do because of lack of money. My husband and I have three children and my husband is a motorist while I do farming. The money that we get from these jobs is hardly enough to help us make ends meet."

"My main priority when I got my transfer was to build a decent house for my family. This is because the house I was living in was in bad shape due to ants eating the roof posts. It was risky to stay in that house, but we didn't have the funds to renovate it. My husband painter and I am a tailor; we have two children. When we received our transfers, we used the entire amount to build a decent house. I am grateful that this was completed in such a short time. It really is a dream come true."

"When I received my first transfer, I used $120 to buy a mattress and another $95 to purchase a bed. Before receiving this transfer, I never owned a bed and I had always wanted to own one and know how it feels to sleep on a bed with a mattress. I am so happy that I was able to accomplish this with the funds that I received from GiveDirectly. I also used a other $40 to buy a goat. This is an investment that shall not only keep my memories about GiveDirectly but also multiply quite easily and enable me meet other expenses in future. I then took another $50 and improved my business with it. I run a small restaurant and the money was very helpful to me in buying foodstuff and utensils that aided in improving of the business. I am so happy that the business is performing very well and I am looking forward to making more profits going forward. I used the remaining amount to buy clothes and other basic household needs for my family."

"I felt so much happy the moment I I didn't know that I received the money at 1 until 5pm because I was far from where my phone was. I had a lit of work to do collecting sand. I did not have enough cash to set up a building . Children in school need food. We were living in a small house and now have extra room and now have privacy. I normally rely on charcoal selling but I now have chicken to rear"

"I felt so much happy the moment I received money from GiveDirectly. This was because I had a lot lined up that I needed to do but I did not have enough money to accomplish this. I was with a close friend of mine at the time that I received money from GiveDirectly and he was quick to realize that there was some money in his account and he even asked me if I had received mine. I quickly checked and confirmed that I had indeed received a sum of $550 from GiveDirectly. I called my husband who was not there with me and he was equally so much happy to hear this news."