"Both my wife and I are peasant farmers and we got no any other source of income. Raising our seven children has not been easy especially paying school fees for the ones who are in high school. For us to raise their fees, we have been working as casuals in the nearby tea plantations. For the last two school terms, we were not able to pay all their school fees because the prevailing drought had made it hard for tea farmers to have some good harvest hence affecting us their casuals. Therefore they had accumulate huge fees balance. With our first transfer, we were able to pay part of the balance and spend $120 of our second transfer to pay the balance. I spend the balance to buy food and clothes for the children to replace their torn ones."

"My stay at home wife and I were in in need of some decent utensils in our house, so we set out to get some of those with the transfers that GiveDirectly had blessed us with. Further to that, I boosted the stock in my retail shop where I sell food stuff. It's located in one of my father's building, which he allocated to me to play my trade. It has been sustaining me and my family, and helping in catering for the fees of my two kids. The cash injection by GiveDirectly assisted me to clear some of the bulk of the fees for my eldest in Kabarak University, as well as cater for my 2nd borns Grade one fees of KES. 500 per month. The drought had left me disheartened but both my family and I are thankful for all GiveDirectly has done for us."

"Before the transfers, I never had cows before as I had no source of income. I used the transfers to buy female cows for kshs 35,000. I decided to buy female cows for milk production for my family's consumption and sale. I do casual work to earn a living and most of the time the pay is too little to cater for my basic needs, I do top it up with the money from selling milk and this has enabled me to take care of other basic needs like food, clothing and kids school fees. I used the remaining part of the transfers to buy a piece of three-seater furniture. I used to fear hosting friends and relatives as I never had enough seats for them, but my self-esteem has improved since I started receiving transfers from GiveDirectly."

"I used kshs 20,000 to pay for my daughter's secondary school fees balance. She had been away from school for a long time due to school fees balance and it was wise to prioritize this. We had no food in the house, so I bought 2 bales of maize flour, vegetables and sugar.These costed approximately kshs 5,000. I have a son who stays with his uncle's and I saw it better to buy some land for him. In future he can construct his house there. So I used kshs 30,000 to buy a piece of land for my son.I also bought a goat worth kshs 3,500 and partially paid kshs 1,000. I'm glad that the goat has already given birth and I'm benefitting from the milk."

"My immediate goal is getting my youngest into colleague. He would love to be a doctor and I am striving to make his dream come true. While at it, I would love to buy cows for dairy farming and have milk both for sale, and for consumption at home."

"As a widow, it has been left upon me to maintain the home we currently live in. Thanks to the transfers from GiveDirectly I was able to plaster the walls and floors, plus also buy iron sheets for roofing purposes. Further more, I got 1 male and 2 female goats, to start me off on the journey of keeping livestock. I proceeded to clear fees arrears of KES. 6,000 and also allocated some of the cash to catering for my three kids in school. My 3rd eldest is in form 1 at Topanga Secondary School, my 4th child is in Class 8, while my youngest is in Class 7, and both go to Malomani Primary School, where fee is KES. 2,500, while I pay KES. 15,000 for their eldest sibling. On the farm I have I grow maize, peas and kunde, which I sell for KES. 3,500 per sack, KES. 30 per cup and KES. 40 per cup respectively. Considering my profit margins, I would never have achieved all I have, without GiveDirectly having stepped in. I am a happy recipient and very thankful."

"When I got the promise that I would receive cash from GiveDirectly, I knew this was a perfect opportunity for me to transform my life. In the coming year and beyond, I aspired to start a goat-rearing business by purchasing a goat at $25 every month. I have four goats so far and plan to have several in the future and possibly also include cows. This is because of the ease with how they mature fast and when the need arises, I sell."