"The biggest difference in my daily life since I started receiving these payments is that in the past I had so much stress to the point that I felt that I together with my family will die of hunger..But with the coming of Givedirectly and cash, I have been saved as I am now able to eat at least twice a day and my husband Demiyala not have to work in people's garden to find food for the day."

"I used my most recent transfer to procure agricultural materials such as fertiliser and seeds..I bought 2 bags of fertiliser with an aim of applying it in my maize field inorder to promote growth..I spent an approximate amount $137 including transporting the bags to my village. Secondly, I bought 2 bags of maize since I just wanted to add to the few bags that I bought in the past..This maize will be enough for family of 7 and will take us untill early January next year. Thirdly, I bought 1 livestock i.e. goat which I plan on rearing outside my house as one way of generating income. Lastly, I bought some beddings as well as a mattress that is big enough for me and my husband Paulo..I also bought kitchen utensils such as pots and plates as I had a little items in my kitchen."

"The biggest difference in my daily life since I started receiving these payments is that in the past I could not afford to take care of my family in terms of buying food..Most times I used to sleep on an empty stomach and at times only ate once..But with the transfer, I am able to eat three times a day and the food is very delicious and healthy."

"The house in structure I am residing in is not conducive for my kids and I, especially during the raining season my younger son always coming down with strong cold that can sometimes lead to him spending a week or two in Fish town hospital. Therefore, if I am qualify to receive this grant, I will use huge portion of the transfer to build a comfortable dwelling place of my own. It has always been on my mind to build a house but; it is so difficult as a single mother, who is not capable of brushing farm to plan crops. I normally help my friends who are married to stratch their farm, and during harvest season they will call me to harvest rice."

"I am a motorcycle taxi rider and this is where we depend to earn a living as a family. This work can only get me an average of $3.50 a day and all our needs look up to this little income. The rising cost of living has worsened the situation and I have found myself in debt I did not intend to have. The food requirements take about $2 a day and usually the remaining $1.50 goes to cater for school fees for my child. In any emergency for example recently when my child fell sick, I was forced to borrow money. I have so far accumulated debts of up to $20 which am worried I shall not be able to repay as soon as they are needed."

"Lack of food is the only challenge I am facing in my household currently. In May we harvested 5 bags of maize from our field and these tool us through the following months until August when we finished them. Since then we have had to rely on casual labour to get food. It has been harder finding these piece works as people don't have money to pay you these days. For instance, we get 5$ for a 10$ job back in the days. Somedays we sleep on empty stomachs while somedays we eat mangoes for supper, that's our substitute for nsima."

"Currently as a household we only have one challenge and that is lack of food. We have run out of stock of the maize we had for food. This year we had 8 bags of maize from our harvest and they had sustained us until last week. Now, I am always thinking of ways to make money and buy food for my family. I have 7 children and it's expensive to feed them all and ourselves."

"Lack of food, clothing and poor living conditions are the challenges I am currently facing in my household. My charcoal selling business and my husband's cycling business don't sustain us on these days. We only make 4$ from our businesses, combined. We are unable to buy our children new clothes as well as improve our living conditions such as buy beds and chairs for comfortable rest in this house."

"My husband is serving a jail term of 12 years after being found guilty of assaulting a lady friend 2years ago. Aside from this story tainting the image of my family, it has also increased the burden of taking care of our children. Raising school fees for my two children has been an overwhelming task for the last two years. I cannot raise school fees amounting to $200 every year because I am a farmer depending on 1 cow. The milk that I get every day is 4 liters which I sell for $ 0.4. This translates to $1.6 per day and even if I was to save the whole amount it would not be sufficient to cover the required school fees."

"Before my son's illness, I ran a fish-buying and fish-selling business in the neighborhood, but I used up most of my resources, including the capital for the enterprise, which caused it to fail. I don't currently have a job or any other income. My strategy is to take on whatever casual work that comes up so that I may earn money to revive the enterprise. I am the only provider for the family because my spouse has been sick for a while. I'm hoping that once I get the business going, the money I make from it will be enough to meet our needs."