"I greatly appreciate GiveDirectly for giving me the transfers which have changed my life. I am a widow and lost my husband when I did not have anything to depend on for livelihood. He was the breadwinner and since then, life has been difficult with my six children who are all in school. Raising fees for them has been my biggest challenge, and my dream is to see them excel and achieve their career goals. My goal now is to ensure that I pay their fees on time every month to avoid interruptions on their studies concerning fees."

"Unfortunately last June I had a tragedy where one of the walls of my house collapsed, and so we ended up moving to the other room that was left. My plan for this year is to ensure that I use this money to rebuild my house. I have already started buying building material like timber, and I will continue to do so with the funds that I will keep receiving each month. I also intend on using a portion of the transfers to finally start a grocery business so that I can make some money to sustain my family better."

"I'm quite grateful for the funds and the help that I got from GiveDirectly because, using this money, I was finally able to start up my own business where I sell groceries in order to take care of the needs of my family. As a result, my plan for this year is to keep my business as busy as possible with the constant transfers that I have received so that he can assist me with the day-to-day needs that will continue to rise in my household. I also intend on using the money to pay tuition for my kids because I want to help my husband pay the bills around the house, especially since his job does not pay as much and I do not want him to be overwhelmed."

"Since the onset of Covid 19, our country's economy has been affected negatively. For instance, food provision for my family of 4 is almost a nightmare. Milk and maize are among the basic needs whose prices have skyrocketed and I can almost not meet the needs of my family. It pains me that the sources of funds have also been limited albeit the situation at hand. Furthermore, climatic changes have also affected immensely the economic activities such as farming that I used to depend on to raise my family. At the tip of the iceberg, is the charcoal ban that has brought a pinch to my financial status."

"Currently I have 2 children in secondary school, 1 in college and another about to join a tertiary institute. I also have another child who's proceeding to standard 8. Next year she will be joining secondary school. The greatest challenge we are facing now is raising school fees for our children. We have sold livestock to educate them. I only have 8 sheep now. This has really affected our life. It's sad seeing our children being send home due to lack of school fees."

"I am a primary school teacher, with a family of 7. My husband is a mixed farmer and also a casual labourer. Our biggest challenge now is raising school fees for our children. It saddens us. Our daughter completed secondary education and awaiting her final results. Then she may join college. We also have a son who will be joining secondary school this coming February 2023. My salary as a teacher and husband's unstable income cannot fully support our children's education. This has made our life difficult hence affecting our ability to give our children good eduction. If our children get educated, they may get government jobs and have a better life."

"I got bitten and molested by my husband in 2021 around January. This forced me to move back home with my four children. My father fortunately, took me and my Children and gave us a house in one of his plots of land. However, I'm faced with the challenge of lack of food and other household appliances such as chairs and tables. I'm the only provider and paying for my children's school fees has also been a challenge. I sometimes get so stressed whenever my children go without taking atleast two meals a day. I really feel bad for my children and myself since work is scarce here and I won't be able to provide for them everything that they want."

"I am faced with a myriad of challenges but top on the list is food insecurity. I buy food from the nearby shopping center but their cost has since spiraled up and I can hardly afford it, 1 kg of flour retails at $1 which to me is high. The situation is further worsened because of my old age. I cannot do casual jobs to earn a living because I am feeble and so I depend on government cash transfers for the elderly though they are meager. I live a life of despair, destitution, and loneliness. My wife passed on almost 20 years ago and so I am left on my own, nobody assists me safe for my children when their visit."

"I have seen it all, life has been hard for me. I am old and my health is failing me. I have lower back pain that has persisted over time. I hardly bend to pick anything from the floor. This has made my life hard even doing household chores is a problem, and even fetching water is hard since the water point is far. I depend on my grandchildren to fetch my water when they are around. I had gone to seek medication at Kapkuikui health center but there was no improvement and so I went to Molok health center where I got relief though the pain has recurred. I want to go for medication again but I have no money for traveling and doctor's consultation.I pray that I will be healed one day and resume my normal life like before."