"Currently I and my household are facing two challenges, thus, hunger and poor housing. With the erratic rains in our area here I haven't been able to harvest anything from my maize field. Consequently, I have been hit by a hunger crisis in my household. Now, I depend on my husband, Taulai Fred to find piece works and buy food for our family. As I am talking to you rightnow he is out in Demita for work. He makes about 3$ which I use to buy a 2.7$ bucket of maize for food with vegetables for daily relish. As if that's not enough, my house leaks whenever it rains and this brings my family discomfort just as much as the former challenge I've mentioned."

"If problems had a tag, it would have my name. It has been a tough year, having to battle sickness, and a lack of finances. I have ulcers and chest problems, recently I had a scan taken, and the doctors discovered a swelling in my heart. I need medical attention but I have exhausted all my finances in seeking treatment. My grocery store business is crumbling and this has affected my ability to provide for my children, especially in paying for their school fees. Anxiety has taken over my life and my heart is crying out for rest."

"The registration and the enrollment were done well and most of the people spent the money well. Since the money was unconditional most of the people spent it on different projects. The majority build better houses and some invested in dairy-keeping projects. I do not find anything that GiveDirectly did not do well."

"I spent $200 on shopping for my two children who were joining college. I did not have the money for the shopping, but I had saved some amount for the college fees. I felt so happy when I received the transfer from GiveDirectly because I knew I would be able to do the shopping without any struggle. I rely on small-scale farming whereby I plant maize, beans and vegetable but this is mostly for consumption. I did not have the extra produce to sell. Apart from that, I run a small business retail shop and this is where I was able to raise the college fees for my children. They were able to get all the items on time and they are currently studying well without any struggle. Besides that, I spent $200 on adding more stock to my retail business. I am so happy because I am able to meet all the demands of my customers. This has enabled me to get a good profit compared to when I had not received the transfer. The remaining amount of money I spent on food, clothes and household items that we were missing at that particular time. I am so happy because GiveDirectly had changed our living standards."

"We are currently struggling with payment of school fees and it has drained us financially as a family. I have 3 children all of them in high school and their school fees amounts to $1000 a year. We were lucky this year because they just joined and we sold all the cattle that we had to cover for this. We have however exhausted our investments and we were worried about next year and how we shall be able to meet this expense. We are just livestock farmers and we have invested all our energy in this, the next option would have been selling the land but it's not a sustainable option. We are grateful for the assistance."

"The challenges I have experienced in my life are so many. Having grown up as an orphan, life was so difficult. I lost my parents at the age of 14 when I had just started high school. I had to depend on well-wishers in the community to educate me. I used to be sent home almost every month to collect school fees which was not even there. I still owe the school about $300 4 years later and they have held to my high school certificate so that I cannot apply to any college to further my studies. It is so challenging now to provide for my family of three because I have to depend on casual jobs that are hard to come by lately. I wish I could continue with my college education because this will keep me competitive in the job market."

"I want to build some rental housing on an empty lot in my residential compound so that I may increase my household's income. Since my salary primarily goes toward the bank debts I have been taking out, I cannot rely on it. Regardless of how little I am able to save, I intend to do so in order to advance toward my objective."

"Raising the school fees for my two secondary-school-aged children has been difficult. They were not permitted to attend class at the time I received the second transfer because they owed the institution outstanding tuition. I used $450 to make up the arrears as a result. I'm pleased that I made it possible for them to continue their studies. At addition, my existing home is too small for us, forcing our kids to look for a place to sleep in the houses of the neighbors. Such arrangements have never made me feel at ease because I am unable to keep an eye on them while they are far away. I started building a house for them with the first disbursement, but I ran out of money before it was finished. Therefore, I spent $100 to buy some of the building supplies needed to finish the project. I am grateful to the group for altering my life, and I am delighted about it."

"Lack of financial stability is the main source of the challenges that my family is going through. My husband owns a barber shop at Kapkwen market while I have been employed to work in a salon. Because of the high cost of living, few customers are seeking our services and this injures our source of livelihoods. Like today I went to work in the morning and I have returned home empty handed because I could not get even a single customer. I have two children who require special diet like milk and many times we are not in a position to provide"