"Courtesy of previous cash transfers, I own a poultry business, consisting of at least 50 chickens. My next focus is to build a one-room house, made of brick walls and an iron sheet roof. Last year, I moved into my grandmother’s house after mine collapsed from rain. I feel that staying in our own space will bring enough privacy to my wife and two children. Since I recovered some iron sheets and planks from the previous structure, I will require at most $800 to complete the exercise. With the $30 that my wife and I save from every monthly transfer, I would be relieved to finish the construction by the end of the year."

"Around 3 o'clock, when I was sitting outside my home admiring the setting sun, my phone beeped with a message. My aide, who was nearby and can read, came to confirm what the message was about because I cannot. He attested that I had really had the $550 first transfer from GiveDirectly. My weak legs grew stronger, and I stood up. I ululated with joy knowing that I was going to have a wonderful house because the one I had was falling apart."

"Illiteracy was almost robbing me of a happy occasion. It wasn't until the evening of the second day after receiving the transfer that I realized I had money in my account. My grandson had just used my phone to make a call at that point. He spotted an indicator on the screen that resembled an envelope before he made the call, and he was curious to open it to see what kind of message it contained. He stopped making the call and walked to the kitchen where I was cooking to let me know that I had been walking around aimlessly with a large sum of money for the previous two days. I stood up and jumped in happiness for getting this transfer."

"Upon withdrawing the money, I opted to renovate my house by building some pillars to make it firmer because it could not withstand the whirlwind and rainy season. Therefore, I bought some hard corals for $172 and eight bags of cement for $50. As of now, I am very happy and comfortable because the pillars were built and the house is very firm. I am confident in it. Thereafter, I paid $160 college fees for my two grandchildren so that they could be allowed to do their examinations. I did this after knowing that the policy of the college was a $0 fee balance for a student to be allowed to sit for an examination. For the remaining amount, I bought some food to sustain my family of six because relying on charcoal burning was doing harm to me since it could not allow me to make ends meet; thus my children regularly went without food."

"Since I do not have a formal job, my key goal has been to start a business. Though I have not begun any yet, I have a small-scale poultry farm with seven chickens and three hens. With the subsequent transfers, I aim not only to keep goats, but also to start a retail shop. They will diversify my income, hence raising school fees for my school-going brother, Kazungu, will not be a serious matter to my widowed mother. She solely relies on selling cooked food to raise money for her upkeep. As a result, my mother shall have a sigh of relief from the burden of raising fees since her business generates very little profit."

"I previously had a chicken-rearing project, but unfortunately, the project ceased as a result of an outbreak that claimed all my chicken. So my goal is to start another chicken-rearing project, I have learnt a lot from a friend who does the same and manages to bank some good income, I too believe that it will help to alleviate me from my current poverty status. I plan to save KES.1500 every month from the transfers in order to see my dreams come true."

"I had owned a little eatery but I temporarily closed it. We eventually spent the majority of the funds intended for the stock because it was at that point our primary source of income. Since then, I haven't been able to reinstate it because I lack the funds, but now that GiveDirectly has guaranteed me a monthly stipend, I want to do so. To accomplish this, I plan to gradually buy the necessary stock each month with the goal of launching the business in six months. I'll buy my daughter, who is seven, a bed and mattress with some of the profit I get from it once it's up and running. When the father is not around, we share a bed, but when he travels from Mombasa town, where he works, it becomes difficult"

"I am currently face a challenge of landslide and flash floods which happen whenever it rains heavily and this has made me with my family members stay with another of worries that we might die anytime. They also affected crops which were swept away leaving us with hunger since we can not plant crops wher landslides happened do well hence having less options of getting food."

"I currently face a problem of poverty which is the cause of all other problems that I am experiencing in life forexample I fall sick all the time but I am unable to meet required treatment. I also face a challenge of hunger because I am very old, weak and unable to work for money that can help me meet all basic needs."

"I generally face a problem of poverty which has forced me to borrow money with high interest which at times fail to refund in time and be forced to sell my assets like goats to clear the debt. I also at times face hardships with getting food for members because diseases destroy our crops like bananas leaving with less options of getting food and we also low income that can not enable meet basic needs regularly."