"Lack of reliable sources of income is a big issue here in the village. I'm a businessman running a pharmacy and an agrovet at Matanomanne trading center. Largely this community is made up of farmers of all sorts, and so those are the clients I have been targeting. Unfortunately it's been drought for too long that the farmers themselves do not have sources of income anymore, thus they can't even buy in good numbers. Market is also flooded because we're already more than ten traders of this type in just a small trading center. Most of the time I only make a net profit of $150 in a month. Without my wife's income, we wouldn't make it at all. She's a teacher earning $280 every month. But from that we still have to support extended family, pay school fees for our two children in boarding primary school at $120, as well as repaying loans that my wife took when we were building our family house."

"My biggest challenge is food security. I do not have reliable sources of income except for the casual jobs I do get around the village to dig, weed, or join in some construction work to be able to earn some money. Most of those jobs pays $2 to $5 per day which is quite too little to feed my family and pay school fees for my four children currently attending primary school paying a total of $60 per academic term.. My husband on the other hand used to work as a security guard in a nearby secondary school, but he was discontinued temporarily when he fell sick and got diagnosed with an airborne disease that isn't even contiguous when one is on drugs."

"Most of our challenges are connected to this prolonged drought that has been in existence for almost two years causing a lot of food security issues. Personally I have four children; two are in high school paying school fees of $60 while the other two in primary school pays $15 per academic term. My husband has always been in the habit of running away from responsibilities and so he doesn't help at all. I'm single handedly running my businesses and paying all the bills plus feeding my children. He recently decided to go live with his brother in the next village leaving us here to fend for ourselves just so that no one reminds him of his responsibilities. I normally sell vegetables at Matanomanne market in the evening, but I do take time in the day to do other things that also earn me extra cash like casual jobs in a construction sites."

"We do not have reliable sources of income here in the village. Culturally, we're subsistence farmers, but due to prolonged droughts we have to find some other ways of generating income to be able to provide for our families. Therefore I have been taking up casual jobs around the village mostly construction ones paying about $5 daily to be able to feed my eight children and pay school fees for six of them. My husband on the other side is employed as a gardener in Malindi town where he earns $100 monthly. Out of the six children who're still schooling; five are in primary school paying school fees of $15 every academic term, while the one who's in high school pays $300 annually."

""Being a single mother with three children to care for: I have been involved in making lowland rice farm, which was my major and only source of income. The farm did not yield as expected this year. This was really a challenge for me because I didn't have the means to support my children's education. The biggest difference this grant assistance from GiveDirectly has made is that I have paid my children's school fees, I am now giving them transportation to and from school, which I was never doing, I am proudly giving them money for lunch. Another difference is that I am now able to keep money for future use. I am no longer worrying about children school fees..I really feel relieved now, thanks to GiveDirectly"."

"I have been in pain for the past three months just because of someone's negligence to observe traffic rules. I remember it so vividly, I was on the road on my motorcycle when I decided to take a left turn at a junction, I was careful and did not forget to indicate but the rider behind was not. He was at high speed and ended up knocking me off the road. I have been bedridden for those months, in pain, and unable to go to work. It is affecting my productivity at home focusing my wife to look for extra jobs just to feed us."

"When I was pregnant, my blood count was very low, a situation that restrained me from actively engaging in my fast food vending job. This has currently affected my ability to sort out some basic needs because I do not have enough money. Nowadays, I am forced to depend on my husband who is a casual laborer on construction sites. His income hardly sustains us since his work is inconsistent and its payment is low, usually $7 per day. This means we forfeit some meals on some days a situation that has affected my health considering that, I am breastfeeding."

"As a parent, I would feel so much happy to see my children being responsible. This has never been the case since they abandoned us and decided to live in Mombasa. This has robbed away my joy as a parent because I no longer get their financial support considering that, my welding job does not earn me much and it's unreliable. This means that sometimes, I am forced to forfeit meals or survive on one, a situation that has directly affected my health status."

"Currently, I am experiencing many challenges but financial constraints top the list. This means it has not been easy to settle some of my very basic needs like seeking proper medication despite having been diagnosed with ulcers 2 years ago. I have struggled to seek medication from our local health centers but my state is yet to improve, which prompts me to visit a referral hospital. What pains me most is the lack of money ($10) to facilitate the transport and this has compelled me to stay at home hopelessly."

"Money is everything, this is what I have recently come to learn. I have a grandson who passed well in his secondary school final exams 4 years ago, but he is yet to join college to pursue his dream career. This has forced him to engage in casual labor to earn little income to support himself, a situation which makes me feel like having wasted my money on school fees. Imagine what I feel as a parent! I am so stressed by this and I am always feeling one day, the financial problem will come to pass and I will have a reason to smile."