"The biggest hardship that I face is lack of food and lack of proper housing. I mostly depend on piece work to earn money. I build bathrooms and toilets and sometimes I work in other people's farms. I do not eaen enough money from these jobs and as a result it is very difficult for me to feed my family."

"Give Directly has empowered us financially. We were able to star building a house. We have Also been able to feed our family."

"Receiving this money means food security to my household. This is because I am a subsistence farmer and I intend to upscale my farming by tilling my 3 acres of land. Currently, I use a hoe during land preparation which is time-consuming and also very tiresome. My harvests are very low usually, 1sack of 90kgs and it takes me 2 months, then I supplement from the shop. I, therefore, plan to spend $400 of my transfers to buy oxen and ox-plough that will help me to have early land preparation and also to till a big portion of my farm. This will be a boost to me since I will be able to solve the food insecurity in my household. Part of my transfer ($100) will help me to buy a water tank that I will use to harvest and store rainwater for my consumption. The remaining amount will help me to buy 7 goats at $300 to act as my store of wealth that will support me in the future."

"This money means alot to me. I will use it to renovate my house. My house is thatched with grass so I will buy iron sheets to replace the grass. On top of that I will buy some household items which I currently do not have."

"The money will meant financial freedom for myself and my son. I got pregnant when I was 16 years old. Due to that I was advised to got married so that my husband should be able to take care of the baby and myself. Both myself and my husband were young and things were tough. It was so hard to have a meal a day. We worked in different piece works just to find food for the day. When I give birth, it was even harder. One day, as usual my husband started very early to the farm, and he never returns. I searched for him everywhere I thought he might be but nothing positive came up. The next day, I got a call from him that he has moved to another district to look for green pasture and he continued saying he no longer wanted to be married. Since then, it has been myself and my son. Being part of this program will meant a lot for me because am planning to start a business that will double the amount within 6 months."

"Receiving this money means food security for me. I have a 4 acre piece of land. I only farm on 1 acre where I approximately get 180 kg of maize. With a family of 3 children and a husband,the 180 kgs only last for 2 months. I do land preparation by hand which makes it impossible to farm on all the four acres. I am planning to buy 2 bulls at KES 15,000 each and an ox drawn plough of KES 10,000. These bulls will help me in land preparation. I will now be able to do farming in all the four acres. This will translate to more produce that will last us for around 8 months. I will then buy 2 cows at a total of KES 30,000 for livestock production. For the rest of the money, I will use it to pay school fees for my son who is supposed to join secondary school."

"Receiving this money means starting livestock farming to me. I am a Shepherd who looks after livestock for other people to earn a living. This has been the main economic activity that I have been doing. My husband used to work in Embu as a houseboy but now is not able to work because he was involved in an accident that broke his right arm and serious injuries on his head. This has made him being economically inactive for now. Consequently, I had to take his responsibility of being the bread winner for the family as a Shepherd. I have a family of three children, one in class one and the other two are still young. Meeting the basic needs of my family has been difficult since I earn $ 20 a month. I intend to use the first cash transfer from give directly to take my husband for check ups. I will then use the second cash transfer to buy six goats and four cows. These will cost a total of $ 400. This will help me achieve my dream of owning my own livestock as an investment for my children education in future."

"The biggest hardship I have ever faced in my life is the lack of a spacious house. I am a housewife who relies on a charcoal burning business which is Labor intensive and the return is lower- Ksh 1200 which is not enough for all basic needs. Due to this, It is difficult to save enough money to build a bigger house for the whole family. My three elder children are accommodated by a relative, something that is embarrassing."

"The biggest hardship I have ever faced in my life is food insecurity. I am a housewife and my husband depends on a charcoal burning business which earns him very little which is not enough to cater to all family needs. Due to this, I have been struggling to get food for my children. Sometimes, we sleep without taking meals. Something that makes me sad."

"Receiving this money means a lot in my life. I am a business man and I am doing business of selling indeginous goats and cows for meat . I also have indigenous cows in my homestead as a source of wealthy . I will buy two oxen worth 30,000 shillings.I will boost my business to have a good capital with 30,000 shillings. I will buy goats as a source of wealthy worth 30,000 and the rest I will cement my house and buy food for my family."