"It was exactly 9 o'clock when I have gone to the nearby water pan to fetch water for the family. Along the way, I heard continuous message alerts on my phone. I had to reach the house for my helper to check the message since I am illiterate. Upon checking I was surprised to be informed that it was the transfer from GiveDirectly. I felt very happy for receiving my transfer knowing that the problem of poor shelter will finally be forgotten."

"I spent KES 6000 to purchase a door for my house which I had constructed with my first transfer for safekeeping of my property. I also used KES 5000 to seek medical care for my grandchild who had an accident one day after I received the transfer and had broken his legs. In addition, I used KES 10000 to purchase enough food for the family this is because we are experiencing famine in our area and most of the time we were sleeping without eating. Furthermore, used KES 3,000 to start a small grocery where I am selling kales, on average I earn a profit of KES 350 per day which is enough to meet the daily basic needs like food. I am planning to spend the remaining amount to educate my firstborn child who had completed secondary education and is about to join college next month."

"Living in a decent and comfortable house with my family is the biggest difference in my life. Previously, we were residing in a house that had a leaking roof and a lot of openings in the walls. I had wished to construct a proper one but I lack money to purchase the building materials. My family members were constantly diagnosed with cold-related illnesses because of the condition of the house. Watching them fall sick continuously makes me unhappy."

"All I am hoping for is better house. Families can last long at a place if there is a better house which can be there even if am gone. Hence my biggest worry has always been lack of better house and comfortable sleeping place. I believe these dreams will come true with the money, we are about to receive."

"The biggest difference in my daily life is that I am now a proud owner of goats. I opted to keep goats because they reproduce very fast and require minimal supervision as compared to the other domestic animals. I am hoping very soon they will multiply and increase more. Currently, three of them have reproduced and this keeps me encouraged. I am certain that I will achieve a lot in life through this business since not so many families are doing it. Apart from that their demand is very high. I am hopeful that I will soon be able to provide basic needs such as food to my family. Paying school fees for my children will no longer be a struggle. This project has changed my perception of life in general, nowadays I can have big dreams and even plan for the future. I have become ambitious and optimistic in life. Like now am planning to later purchase a dairy cow after selling a few goats. Currently purchasing a dairy cow is not possible because they are normally very expensive and I cannot afford to buy one at the moment. Through the two projects, my life will never be the same again. I have been living a miserable life by always depending on odd jobs such as selling charcoal and the much I can earn from such jobs is KES 200 a day which was never enough to run my family. With these projects, I feel there is light at the end of the tunnel."

"On a good day, we make around MWK10,000 kwacha per day whenever there is an item to be made at the shop. However due to lack of other materials, my husband does not make the amount enough to start saving for other purposes such as a better house. Hence this money will be used to add much needed equipment at the shop and also within the household. Even some would go towards food to make sure there is enough maize before hunger season when it's expensive. We believe the carpentry shop is capable of earning us money to build our own house and also other household items we are lacking."

"This money will assist us in may ways than you can imagine. Imagine for the past 10 years I have lived here, my highest income in a month has never gone above MWK15,000 kwacha. This is so as we usually depend on selling firewood from the depleted forest nearby. We do this as a supplement after harvesting maize. Even the harvest is never enough due to fertilizer. I believe this money will help me and my husband to seek out other opportunities to make an income. We shall make sure we buy enough food as maize is about to be scarce these coming months. My husband will also buy a bicycle to be used as a taxi business as the one we have is for carrying firewood. We shall also make sure to improve the outlook of the house to make it a bit bigger and comfortable with iron sheets. The kids too deserve some money for clothes and school fees. Lastly,I am very excited and happy to be included in this project as the is something I never expected."

"Receiving this money means I will be able to build a house with burnt bricks, I'll also be able to buy food, a mattress and decent beddings for comfortable sleep."

"I spent part of the money I received from GiveDirectly on building a better house for my family. We used to live in a small house which could not host all the family comfortably. Whenever we had visitors it was so stressful because I had no extra space to host them. I had always wished to build a house but I didn't had money. I repaired my motorcycle to ease my business of buying scarp metals from the village. I bought two goats, beddings, clothes for my children and the rest of the money I spent on food for the family."

"I spent KES 20,000 of the second transfer to purchase a heifer. I always buy milk daily and this is so costly for me. When my dairy cow reproduce I will be able to cut the daily cost of buying milk. I also paid the balance of the land that I bought using the previous transfer of KES 15,000. I am so grateful because now I can do the horticulture farming as I plan to relocate. The rest of the money I bought two sacks of maize and milk for my family. I am so grateful because GiveDirectly has changed our lives."