"My last born son finished class eight in 2018 and scored 327 marks. He was offered a chance in Shimo la Tewa secondary school, one of the highly performing National school in the Coast Province of Kenya. Due to my financial capabilities, and being the breadwinner to my family having been left behind by my late husband, his desires to join the school did not see the light of the day. However, being a mother who wants to offer the best to her son, I solicited funds from my daughter's in-law who loaned me 10000 Kenya Shilling and as well, applied for a slot in the nearby school, Shaka Hola secondary school. I budgeted for him, bought for him a single pair of school uniform, and all the other basic materials needed in the school. I also started the annual school fee with 1000 Kenya Shilling. Thereafter, I brest for a tougher time, being obliged to repay the loan and at the same time source for more school fees for my son's academic continuity. I decided to venture into small business of charcoal selling. This has pushed me for long but now, with the drought in our region, even charcoal selling is becoming hard. My son is frequently sent back home for fees. He was recently sent home and I had no option but to take a 90 kilogram sack of charcoal as payment in kind to the school principal. So, my son's education has been the biggest headache and receiving this money, will mean an assurance of completion of my son's secondary school level. I will clear his fee arrears of 34000 Kenya shilling."

"I had gone to the farm at around 9 in the morning when my cell phone started ringing continuously. Since I am illiterate I did not bother to check who it could be. I went ahead with the task that I was working on till 1 PM when I decided to go back home. As soon as I reached home, I asked one of my children to confirm the content of the notification. Upon checking, he realized that it was the Mpesa message from Segovia Technology. On hearing this great news I was overwhelmed with joy becsue I finally knew my children well even have something to eat on that particular day."

"I can vividly remember just like the other day at around 8 AM when i was at the shop buying foodstuff for the day when i heard a message tone. Without wasting time, I opted to check the content of the message. Upon checking I realized that it was an Mpesa message from GiveDirectcly, they had debited my first transfers as promissed. Due to the joy that I had, I even deiced to return home and started the planning."

"Receiving this money from GiveDirectly means I will revive my cattle selling business. I used to engage myself in cattle selling business before. Life was good then but the sickness of my late father forced me to use everything that I had saved and finally the business collapsed. The business has good returns and I am planning to use 1000 dollars from the GiveDirectly transfers to revive the business by buying several cows from the villages and taking them to the market/slaughter houses where the demand is high. This will take me back on track,I will make good profits which will improve my standard of living."

"We are subsistence farmers, why do I say so? Because the amount of produce that we get cannot even sustain my family and pay my children school fees. With this transfer, I will be able to pay Ksh 40,000 for my daughter who is joining college and ksh 15,000 for one in secondary school. We intend to buy a cow to add to our herd tlin order to boost milk production."

"I can say it is poverty. I am old and do not have the strength to go look for grass to come fill my leaking roof. This has made my life so uncomfortable. I cannot also till my land because I am too old and feeding myself has been a challenge. I rely so much on my sons."

"I felt good when we were told about GiveDirectly coming to our village. I am currently constructing a three- roomed brick house but it has stalled because I do not have enough money. Receiving this money, I will use the first transfer to fix windows, a door and add ceiling board to the house. I will use the second transfer to tile my sitting room and buy a roll of chain linked wire to fence a small part of my compound in order for my wife to rear poultry."

"The moment I received my transfer, I was at home tending to my cow, When I heard of a message tone ringing, I don't know how to read, therefore I called my daughter to read out the message, instead She shouted the word "confirmed" on asking what that was all about, that is when she broke the good news that I had received my transfer, we were all overwhelmed with happiness."

"We were given a small house in my parents In-law place, though the house was small we had no choice but to endure and accept what life had offered us, The moment I received my transfer I bought a parcel of land worth 300 dollars, I then used 200 dollars to build a simple house. I am now relieved, happy, peaceful and fulfilled knowing that I have a place I call my own."

"I have always desired to further my education so as to earn a career in nursing. My husband however didn't agree to this so I have been left to be a stay at home mum.(house wife).This is has been my biggest hardship as it is demoralizing since most of my peers are furthering their careers ."