"Lack of money is the biggest challenge I have ever faced. I am not employed for me to get a constant income. I always burn charcoal to earn an income. The income I get is not enough to sustain our family of 6 children. The charcoal burning business is also not consistent. You can stay for a month without getting people to buy the charcoal.My husband on the other works as a watchman, he is paid 8,000 Kenyan shillings per month.The salary he gets is still not enough. Sometimes my children are forced to skip school due to lack of school fees."

"Financial Crisis is the biggest challenge that I have ever faced. I am an unskilled person getting a good job to sustain my family 9 is a challenge to me. The small business that I do earns me little profit. I majorly depend on my husband who does casual labor a job that is tiresome and earns him a little amount of $3 per day. This amount can not fully sustain all the basic needs of the family. This has led to my children been send out of school to collect school fees, thus leading to their low performance in school."

"Receiving this money means a reliable source of income for my household. I am an unskilled person and get a good job to sustain my family of 9 is a challenge to me. I am a rubber rapper the job is tiresome and getting a willing buyer to purchase my product is another problem for me. I have been struggling to feed my family. I am planning to spend $400 on my first transfer to start a grocery and this I am assured of getting an estimated profit of $5 per day. The remaining amount of my first transfer will help me to pay school fees for my children. With the second my second transfer will help buy 10 goats that will act as a long-term investment project to my family. The remaining amount I will use it to cater for other basic needs of my family like buying food."

"Food insecurity is the biggest challenge that I have ever faced in life. This is because every coin I earn from my job of rubber tapping, I spend on buying food for my family. This has hindered me from doing other basic needs of my family like taking my children to good schools. But with the help of Givedirectly, I am assured that all my children's education will continue."

"Receiving this money means a spacious house to my family. This is because I am leaving in one bedroom house which is small in case I host visitors. I plan to spend Kshs.40,000 to build a three-bedroom house that will be enough for me and my visitors. I will also spend Ksh.15,000 to buy five indigenous goats at Ksh.3,000 each. The remaining amount will cater for bedding and other basic needs such as food."

"Receiving this money means building a new house for my family. I am currently living in a small house that is not enough to accommodate my whole family. I have a family of eight children. Some of them are teenagers and we cannot sleep in the same room. This forces them to look for shelter from other neighbors. I used to have a two bedroom house but unfortunately it caught fire and burned down to ashes. This made us to erect a single room structure which we cook and sleep in the same room. This makes it difficult to even host a visitor for a night. I intend to use the first cash transfer from Givedirectly to build a two bedroom, iron sheet roofed house which will cost $500 in total. I will then use the second cash transfer to buy two beds and mattresses, food and pay school fees for my children."

"Receiving this money means starting livestock farming. I have a family of two children in a polygamous family. My husband has no job that can sustain me and my co-wife. This forced me to engage in charcoal burning business which is illegal but because it is the only job available, I have no choice but to do it. This business earns me $ 10 a week which is not enough to cater for my basic needs and education for my children. I intend to use the first cash transfer to buy two dairy cows that will cost $250 each. This will enable me to get milk and sell in the village to earn an income. This will also boost the health of young children in the village. I will then use the second cash transfer to pay school fees for my children and the rest, for domestic use."

"Receiving this money means the continuation of education for my children. This I plan to achieve by practicing livestock keeping. I intend to spend 60,000 shillings to purchase two indigenous dairy cows and 5 goats. This is going to generate income for our family. In a day I can sell at least 5 liters of milk and make 250 shillings, I will save the money from the sale of milk for my children's future education. Also, the goats produce very fast and multiply. I plan to sell them in the future and educate my kids who are still in the lower classes. Apart from the livestock, I will spend the remaining amount on house consumption like food."

"Lack of a reliable source of income is my biggest hardship. I depend on my husband who works as a taxi driver in town. His job is not guarantee because he does not have his own. Sometimes the owner take it for a whole month which means my husband will not be able to work and provide for our needs such as food."

"Low self-esteem has been the biggest hardship I have faced in life. We have been struggling to make ends meet and I am employed as a mechanic in a nearby town. The job itself is tiresome yet I earn an average wage of Ksh 500 a day. I have 5 school-going children, 2 in secondary level and 3 in primary level. In total, I pay approximately Ksh 100,000 per year as school fees. Due to the nature of my work, raising that amount is extremely hard. I at times rely on well-wishers to raise school fees and this has led to a lack of self-esteem."