"This disease which affects our maize has been a great challenge to us for a long time.we have not harvested maize in the past five years .We had to go to Chebunyo our nearby market to buy maize and this was quite expensive for me."

"After buying livestock, foodstuff, and even clothing for my , I am really pleased that I cleared the school fees for my two kids. This has given me peace of mind and finally eased the planning of other projects. I had been thanking God especially over this season where most of the school children have been sent home to collect their school fees while mine had been in school the whole term with no interruption at all. This is the biggest difference in my daily life so far since many times, they had been home over such seasons but GiveDirectly has really changed things around and I am grateful."

"I am an orphan .I have been involved with casual jobs to try and survive. My mother passed on long time ago when I was class three. Also,my father died 13 years ago. Life has been unbearable and a struggle for us . Growing up ,I have been staying with my elder sister in her house .She has children and I saw it as a burden to provide for her children and myself ,that is why I decided to fend for myself in my house. I dropped in form one because of lack of school fees and started doing casual jobs which I still do to date. I intend to buy a dairy cow ,build a kitchen house and marry . As you can see I have reached marriageable age ,I have always wanted to marry but because of lack of income I have not been able. The dairy cow will cost USD 4500,the kitchen construction will cost around UD 3000 ,the rest of the money I will use to buy household items for use."

"I have always wanted to own my own small business that will continually give me income to meet my family's needs. I plan to invest the whole amount in starting up an Mpesa enterprise.The returns or profit from this business will help me meet my basic needs.Receiving this money means financial freedom for me."

"The biggest hardship has been my children getting sick more oftenly. They have been diagnosed with pneumonia. I suspect its due to leakage in the house. This has drained us financially."

"When i get this money I want to buy a heifer. Usually my mother gives us milk for our household use but since I am now independent I need to provide for my family. My area is prone to draught, so i need an ordinary cow who can survive with this weather conditions. A good heifer cost around 300-350 dollars. I also need to buy a water tank. We get water from the river far from my household. This water is not even safe for drinking. A water tank of 2300 litres will go a long way. This will cost me around 1700 dollars. The rest of the money we use to for household needs."

"Lack of employment opportunities in this area has been the biggest struggle we face. I am the sole breadwinner of my family and the casual jobs I engage in earn me $20 weekly. This amount is only enough to buy food for my family. My firstborn child will start schooling next year and this worries me since I doubt if I can either afford to buy her school uniform and books or pay her school fees."

"Receiving this money means that I will finally increase my dairy cow that I keep. The cow that I keep gives me about $60 a month. I use the money to pay school fees for my children but is not sufficient. Increasing another cow will bring my earning from the sale of milk to about $ 120. This way, I will be able to pay school fes and buy foodstuffs, leaving my income from my animal trading business for home improvement such as building an iron roofed sheet getting rid of this small grass thatched hut."

"Receiving this money means that I will buy a dairy cow to add the one I keep. I have only one cow that gives me just two litres per day. Selling this gives me about 0.6 USD per day. It is less than a dolar and not enough for food, let alone to pay school fees for my children in school.When I get this money, I will buy a better breed of a dairy cow that will produce about 5 litres a day. The $150 that I will get per day will enable me to buy sufficient foodstuffs and pay school fees for my children. I will also buy some goats, as an investment to save part of the money so that I can later sale them to get more money."

"Some time back, I used to own several cows which came in handy in milk production. Unfortunately, I was got up by school fees, I ended up selling all of them to cater to my children's school fees as that was the only source of income I had. When I received the second transfer, I used KES 20000 to clear school fee arrears. I also bought two dairy cattle to replenish what I had lost before. I used the remaining amount of money to add stock to a business I had started earlier (buying and selling oxen at a profit)."