"We have had a lengthy drought period of close to two years putting us on a very tight spot that without money it's totally impossible to get food. As villagers we mainly rely on subsistence farming to get most of the foods we need to feed our big families. Personally I have a family of eight; six children and the two of us. My husband works several villages away from here tapping palm wine, a job that doesn't pay him much and he normally sends me just $5 weekly. Since the onset of drought, I haven't been able to produce crops. The last time I did was two years ago and it was two sacs of maize. With these new conditions I decided to try out casual jobs at the manganese mines in the village, but this had very bad effect on my health and so I ended up in charcoal burning. I've been able to produce ten sacs per month which fetches $30 at the current market price, but the new challenge is that we do not have trees anymore to burn in this village."

"The biggest challenge here in the village is just drought. And as you might have noticed, most of our problems stem directly from that. I'm a widow living with my two children; a son and a daughter. They're both adults with my daughter still attending high school currently at form two, while my son already dropped out in primary level but never the less he's jobless and dependent on me. To take care of all that, I have been taking all sorts of casual jobs that I can get ranging from casual labor at construction sites to working for manganese mining companies. Construction jobs are heavier and pays $4 daily while mine jobs pays $20 weekly. This has been my life for the past two years of extreme drought that we weren't even able to to grow and harvest any crop."

"GiveDirectly gives support through unconditional cash transfers. This is the best approach for effective poverty eradication from poverty-stricken communities. In addition, cash transfer is helpful to the elderly since they have the least energy and cannot engage in vigorous economic activities. Since I am advanced in age and I cannot engage in some work, without the transfer, life would be so unbearable. I have built a new house, and life is currently better courtesy of the transfer. However, there is nothing that GiveDirectly does not do well."

"Due to limited options for sources of income in our area, I opted to do casual hard labor to earn a living. Unfortunately, my husband also struggled to get a casual job, and our income was insignificant to meet all our family needs. For instance, raising children's school fees and buying food was hard for us. With the transfer, I spent $300 on iron sheets because I had planned to build a house. In addition, I spent $50 on a bed and $45 on two goats. Lastly, because my four children were at home due to fee issues, I spent $150 on their school fees."

"Neither my husband nor I have a consistent source of income. I make charcoal for sale while my husband works a part-time job in Mombasa. My husband is always away, so I stay with my nine children. My current home is small, and because of its aging roof, it leaks when it rains. I have been desiring to build a new house for a long time because my current one is small and we frequently have trouble fitting in. I spent $220 on 20 iron sheets with the transfer to build a new house. I purchased a new mattress because I already owned a bed."

"The only thing I wish to accomplish this year is to build my house and sent my children to school. I also want save some money for my daughter college fees."

"I have not seen anything in Givedirectly that will make me to feel bad. I pray for GD everyday of my life. Through Givedirectly my children are in school. I am able to transfer money one to my children in monrovia.through GD I will become a house owner. I think GD should add scholarship to the program"

"In my opinion, Givedirectly is doing well for me. Receiving money that I didn't work for is something different I feel blessed."

"I bought four bundle of zinc for $24.000 librarian dallars.i also bought five gallons of gas for $5.000 LD. I also bought two bottles of black oil for $500.00LD. The balance money was used to pay for planks."

"I have not used my third transfer yet. But am planning to go to Monrovia by next week to buy my house materials ."