"I'm a mother of four living in the village with my children while my husband lives and works in Mombasa town as a mason. I have been doing mostly subsistence farming, but also runs a secondhand clothes business on the side. I have been getting food from the farm, but the biggest challenge is on my business; I generate very low sales because most of the people I target from the village have very low economic status. Some times I even sell as low as $2 in a day. This is somehow too little considering that I have four children to pay school fees for. One is in primary boarding school paying $80 per academic term, while the other three are attending a day school paying $15 eachfor the same amount of time"

"As a family, we depend of farming for a living. However, climate change has awfully implicated the economic activities in the area since the seasonal river Waseges have dried up over the past 2 years therefore hindering irrigation on the farms. We gave up farming to concentrate on charcoal burning because the losses we incurred were heart wrecking.For now, my family of 3 use stagnant water for the household , which sadly, is a predisposing factor to diseases. The profit we earn from the charcoal business all caters for the food for the household and we can not afford to purchase a 20litre jerrican of water at $1 from the Loboi centre."

"I rely on livestock keeping to earn a living but it comes with its own share of challenges like diseases. Sometimes it is expensive to purchase medicine and vaccines. Three months ago, I lost fifty goats to a viral disease which was a big loss. We have never recovered financially from it at thesame time we fear investing more in livestock. This could be controlled if we had better veterinary services in our area which I feel is a lapse from the government."

"I was once a motorcycle taxi but I got into an accident that forced me to stay jobless. Considering our area is not productive in terms of farming, I am now depending on charcoal work as my source of income. This job earns me very little, usually $60 a month, an income that goes into settling my bills leaving me with nothing to save. This situation has made me live in a horrible house because I can not afford to construct a decent one. Since our area is prone to elephants' inhabitation, I have always been in fear and this has never given me peace. What a sorrowful life!"

"When GiveDirectly came to our village and gave us free cash transfers that transformed our livelihood, I saw many changes in my village. Following our planning and spending, we discovered a diverse spending pattern that met everyone's needs. I am grateful to GiveDirectly for the simple enrollment process that ensured no one went unnoticed throughout the village."

"Waseges river which originates from the Subukia hills is a source of relief for people in Metibelion area because it drains into Oxbow lake in the village. However, it is seasonal and one cannot rely on it often for agriculture or household use. For instance, in the past 2 years, I sowed maize on the 1acre land that I leased on the river banks but I never harvested. Even though the crops were doing well for the first 2months, the river dried up and we had no water to irrigate the farm as we bared the losses. Currently, my family of 4 source water from Loboi centre which is somewhat expensive as a jerrican of 20liters retails at $0.2.It pains me to buy a basic commodity from the savings that I could have otherwise used towards food for the household."

"Since we are faced with water scarcity in our area, I developed a goal towards the same and I plan to see it coming to pass. The next move that I aim to accomplish is to fix fresh tap water at my home. Currently, we have to move to a longer distance of almost 90 minutes to get to a water point. Apart from the distance, it is also expensive to buy some water every day. From my boutique business, I make some savings to accomplish the same probably before the year ends."

"Currently, I have a goal of starting a fishmongering business. I chose this kind of business because it has less competition since it is a handful of people who are doing it. The aim of this business is income generation because making and selling charcoals has become unreliable due to the scarcity of trees in our area. At the beginning of the next year 2023, I would like to have flagged off the business."

"GiveDirectly did well in our village not only for me but also in other households that received the transfer. We used to struggle to fend for our families and the main source of income was from making and selling charcoals which are not reliable. Coming up with the cash transfer idea by GiveDirectly, helped a majority of us to solve the itching problems which we did not know how to go about them. On my side, hunger and school fees were the major challenges thus the transfer enabled me to solve them to an extent. As of now, I am at peace with my family even though I am still struggling, I have some hope from my fishmongering business which I started."

"I have a family of three members. My husband and I are casual laborers making charcoal for sale. I sell ten bags of charcoal per month each for $3. The income caters only to food. Sometimes the family goes without food. We take on one meal per day. The family in our village is a result of the lack of rain. We last got rain three months ago. Lack of food is the current challenge I am facing."