"My dream as a parent is to see my 5 kids educated to help me when I get old. My kids have been out of school for the past year due to a lack of financial support. Moreover, the house that I was living in was a thatch roof, and during the rainy season, most of my belongings got damaged. With the help of Give Directly money, I was able to send my children to school and recondition a house with a zinc roof. Give Directly did well by making me conditional my house with a long-lasting zinc roof."

"For more than 15 years, my 3 children and I have been living in a house made of mud and sticks with a thatch roof. However, I make a farm but the money I earn from the farm is what I use for food. We don't have money to build a house with a zinc roof I intend to use the money to build a spacious concrete house with a zinc roof that will last for many years to come even after I'm gone."

"Before receiving the transfer, I had already designed a structure of the priorities to handle once the money is sent to my account. When I withdrew the money, the first thing was to construct a rental house so that I have an income-generating activity that I could rely on in the future. Based on that, I bought 20 pieces of iron sheets for $160 and building poles for $100. Before proceeding with the process, I accidentally fall while walking yet it was raining and I broke my hand. I paused the whole construction process and went to the hospital where I spent $30. While waiting to recover so that I could monitor the construction, I paid $80 to my neighbor to prepare my two-acre piece of land for farming as well as planting for me since I could not do it myself. Currently, I am happy that my crops have sprouted well hoping the rains will do us favor this time round. For the remaining amount, I used some to buy some food and saved the rest for the construction."

"The vivid differences that I can attest to before and after receiving the transfer are the availability of food at home and the peace of mind I got after managing to build a house for my son. Initially, we could go for up to two days a week without food some that we no longer experience since receiving the transfer. Again, my son has his house now and no longer seeks refuge from friends, thus he can confidently conduct his studies as well not as before when he used to receive instructions in peoples' houses."

"The main challenge that we are facing today in my family is food insecurity. This has been occasioned by failure of maize farming in our region due to changes in climatic conditions over the recent past. This farming venture had been our source of food as well as livelihood for the longest time and when it failed we were left to depend on casual jobs to earn a living. This meant a reduction in food portions for the family and reduced income. The gap that was left by the venture is so big and casual jobs will never bridge it."

"I face a myriad of challenges, top on the list is lack of money to be able to better my life. Coming by money nowadays is a big deal. The ends do not meet and there is no easy day. I lag behind because of it, when I try to engage in farming I cannot afford the inputs, and even buying clothes is a tall order. Money is a big enabler, it is almost everything. For now I only struggle to get disposable income to purchase foodstuff but on any development front it is not possible."

"I have been facing a severe food insecurity. The situation was made worse by the outbreak of lethal maize necrosis disease that ravaged our crops. I no longer do maize farming and I have resorted to buying maize grains from the nearby Kapkwen market. Life has been unbearable since the cost of living has gone up to unprecedented levels. The cost of a 2Kg packet of maize flour goes at $2.30 up from $0.8 which is sometimes unaffordable.The price of cooking fat has spiraled also and nowadays I do not cook using the fat and the quality of the food I eat is so poor."

"I am a trained carpenter having learned from a neighbor through apprenticeship. Lately, it has become hard to get jobs unlike before possibly because the cost of living has spiraled unlike before. I have had to look for other jobs to survive on, I am employed sometimes as a motorcycle rider and at the end of the day get paid depending on the amount of money I make, they use a commission basis. The pay is so little unlike my conventional job of house construction, coupled with the high cost of living my standard of living has taken a nose dive. It is a struggle to put food on the table nowadays."