"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."

"The biggest in my daily life is that I will always mention is that I now have a decent two-roomed house. Previously I used to stay in a very small house with a single room. With the seven family members, it couldn't accommodate some of us. I had been longing to at least renovate it but I did not have enough money to facilitate that. This is because I have been the family's breadwinner for the past 9 years since my spouse passed on. I have been relying on the odd jobs with a very low income and even providing for the family's daily meals was sometimes not possible. Therefore I never had the hope of owning my own house anytime soon. Having this house has even me more proud and happier. My children no longer have to seek shelter from my relatives like they used to do. I will forever be thankful to GiveDirectly for not only transforming my life but also those of my village mates."

"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."

"I can say the biggest hardship that I have faced with my family is financial constraints. We depend on farming in order to take care of our needs and also pay school fees for my children. Sometimes this is not enough and my children are often sent back home for fees. This often troubles me so much."

"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."

"The biggest hardship that I have faced is job security. When I completed my diploma in sales and marketing, I could not secure a job for a longest time and had to depend on my husband to meet our family's needs. He decided to enroll me for a degree in education so that I can get a chance to be employed by the Teacher's Service Commission and with that help him with providing for our family."

"The house I was living in was not in a good shape, it was too old, I could not afford to build a new one because I didn't have money, I used to sell vegetables in the shopping centre before but I was forced to stop due to my old age, therefore, when I received my transfer I used 400 dollars in building a house which came as a very big relief, I used the remaining transfer in buying foodstuff."

"My life is different now in that, I was able to buy a parcel of land and managed to build a house, this is the best thing that has ever happened to me, initially, we were living in my in-laws compound but the house was too small, we also wanted our own space though this was not possible due to our financial status, I am grateful for the transfer because it has enabled me to get a shelter. I lack words to express my joy, May God bless our donors wherever they are."

"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 ."