"Upon getting the transfer, I started construction of a new house using interlocking blocks since the one I had was collapsing and I wanted to get a permanent solution. The house is three-quarters complete. Since the collapsing house still has good iron sheets, I intend to use the same iron sheets to roof the new house which is still under construction. As of now, the amount I have spent on the house is $230. Despite my house being incomplete, I am happy for GiveDirectly for the far I have reached with the construction. If it were not for the organization, I would not have done this wonderful work. Living with an extended family of 16 and the breadwinners are casual laborers, I opted to buy two bales of maize flour for the family. Thereafter, I bought two goats for $70 so that I also start an investment because the future is unpredictable. For the remaining amount, I saved $150 for the ongoing construction process."

"Before getting the transfer, our major challenge at home was food. We were used to skipping lunch meals not because we were busy but because we had nothing to take. The lunch meal was a history in our home. The little we got was kept for supper as the main meal of the day. Currently, we are singing a different song. Since the time I received the transfer, we have been taking three meals a day something which was impossible before. I am very happy to see my family enjoying all the main meals of the day. This has brought peace and happiness to our family. Again, I managed to proceed with my rental house construction which was stuck. As of now, the rental house is almost ready. This could not be a walk in the park if it were not for GiveDirectly."

"Upon getting the transfer, I opted to do some finishing of my house. What triggered me to this, I wanted to have a decent house courtesy of GiveDirectly. Therefore, I used $170 to buy plastering and flooring materials like cement, and sand including the labor charge. Currently, I am very happy and confident because I live in a decent house. Thereafter, I bought a variety of foodstuffs so that my family could be able to change from normal meals to taste the goodness of GiveDirectly. I bought some maize flour, wheat flour, rice, and sugar. For the little amount that remained, I saved it for the upkeep of the family."

"Since my house was very small and congested to shelter my six grandchildren, I saw it prudent to construct another house. Therefore, I bought some building materials; 47 poles for $71, rafters for $32, nails and 16 pieces of iron sheets for $ 144 and $40 was the contractor's labor charge. Currently, a one-room mud-walled house with an iron sheets roof shines my home. I am grateful and happy for GiveDirectly for enabling me to construct a nice house. I cannot tell how long it would have taken me to build such a house considering that I depend on charcoal burning for survival. and I am a widow taking care of my six grandchildren who are orphans. I also bought two sacks of maize to ensure that I have enough food at home and kept the remaining amount for emergencies for the family."

"Initially, hunger was not a stranger in our family, going without food was almost a norm. We used to go up to at least two days a week without getting some food. Since I am very old, I depended on my co-wife who is a casual laborer for survival. As of now, I am very happy that as a family we are getting our daily meals since the time I received the transfers. In addition to that, I sleep well and comfortably. All these could be impossible if it were not for GiveDirectly."

"To understand what GiveDirectly does well, you must first understand how i live now. I have a new house, goats, money in my pocket, and I'm current when it comes to all my bills. To say GiveDirectly has been a blessing would be an understatement. They have excelled at uplifting and empowering recipients, not just me. I ask that they continue to bring more programs to us and potentially offer more to those in need who have yet to benefit from GiveDirectly."

"I've always strived to assist my parents in any possible way I can. Hence, upon receiving my transfers from GiveDirectly, I was quick to pay $150 in tuition fees for my sister in Kidwenge Secondary School. she lives with my parents and being able to offer any relief to my parents in terms of her upkeep, makes me very happy. I also rented land , a 3 acre piece, at $60 per year on which I harvest maize and vegetables. Further more, I bought maize which I milled for flour and used some for seedlings when planting. Getting poultry had been a long time goal for me, needless to say I quickly invested in some chicken and enough feed to get them up and running. 3 female goats were also bought, in hopes of growing a flock to sell and make some extra money for myself, my husband and our 1.2 year old child. My husband earns $45 a month as a cyber cafe attendant in Bamba town and I practise as a non trained teacher , at Muthomboni School , teaching Maths, English and Environmental study's. Between his pay and my $60 a month, we have been struggling to make ends meet, but by God's grace, GiveDirectly have given us a chance to further not only ourselves, but also our families as a whole and we are eternally indebted to them."

"I currently face a problem of getting food for my people where I go the forest to fetch firewood and sell in order get what to eat. When I don't collect firewood from the forest, the chances of accessing food becomes very minimal and all this comes as a result of landslides that occured just mitres from our home and destroyed almost all the gardens we had hence leaving with no reliable sources of food to survive on."

"The first thing that prevent our development and greatest challenge is that we have to work for others daily and the small money we get we use it renting land to cultivate for what to eat; renting a land nowadays is not easy when you fail to pay on time the owner gives the land to others or they even raise the money or sell the land without informing us and in that case we have to struggle searching for a new land to rent leaving that one that was familiar with our plants. We currently don't have any cow of our own to give us fertiliser to use in the land we rent, we have to herd livestock from others to be able to get fertiliser to use. Another challenge we are facing is being sick , me and my husband Damascene have to go to the hospital a lot , I was recently hospitalised because I had a miscarriage a month ago , up to now i haven't been able to recover from that tragedy because this was my first time facing this kind of misfortune It left me devastated in these past days."

"The first challenge we are currently facing is not having enough land to cultivate, we have a small land which can't produce enough thus we have to work for others in order to survive and we have to rent a land to produce what to eat. Another challenge we have is that me and my husband Fabien had both stomach surgery which make us weak sometimes and we can't be able to work for our family and get money to sustain our family and this sometimes makes it hard for us to get school fees for our children and there are cases where we had to pay for some of them and others had to stay at home. Our house is very small and not adequate for my family size , we don't have beds for our 5 children and they have to sleep on the floor which is uncomfortable and it rains inside our house because the roof is not adaquate , when it rain heavily we can't be able to sleep we have to wake up and move on one side and wait for the rain to stop."