"The biggest hardship is financial constraints. I'm a casual laborer earning at most ksh 350 per day. This goes to food. This casual labor job is not consistent meaning I don't get to earn every day. This doesn't allow me to save or cater for other family needs like better housing and clothing."

"Hunger is the main challenge I ever faced. in year 2019 our maize were affected by a disease , we could not harvest anything at all.The price of maize shot to Sh 150 per 2 kilograms .My family had to take one meal a day (super) because I did not have enough finances to buy maize flour, vegetables as well as milk."

"We are a family consisting of five children,two sons and three daughters ,our house is small and its not enough to accommodate all of us.Building a house is expensive and our income doesn't allow us to meet the cost.My children usually go to sleep with their grandparents. This expose them especially my teenage girls since they can easily be waylaid and lured by men on their way to the grandparents house. In the process they might get pregnant at their tender age. Our plan is to expand our house to at least 3 rooms so that one of the room can be used by our girls. Consequently, we will be able to be close with them and also have umple time to study during preps. We expect to spend approximately USD 400 and the rest we use to buy a dairy cow."

"The biggest challenge I now face is raising up the family. As the children grow so does the responsibility increases. My budget line is expanding each day especially in terms of school fees,my boy recently join university and it is really expensive, I also have two others at high school and the rest in primary school. As school opens that is always a nightmare to me, because really I do not have savings,I only depend mostly on farming which sometimes is affected by the vagaries of weather and poor quality of seeds."

"Givedirectly is giving out money to poor Malawians like me because they want to boost our economic status. Here in village most of us fail to access our basic needs due to poverty therefore the money will help us to buy food, clothes, and many more"

"Owning a bigger house has always been my desire. I am a widow and the breadwinner of my household. I currently live in a small grass thatched house with my 2 children ,with the other teenage boy borrowing sleep from the neighbours. Receiving this money means building a decent house (300usd)to accommodate my family. I will spend the remaining transfers on food, clothing and purchasing a dairy cow(300usd).The milk will be used by the household and the remainder sold for income(0.35usd) per litre."

"I sell groceries to support my family and I don't have a definite place to work from. Receiving this money means that I will be able to put up a shop (400usd) at the local centre. Interacting with people is my hobby as I am able to sell my products and in return get some profit. Consequently,I will use part of the transfers to purchase a dairy cow (350usd) as i have always desired to own one. The one I currently own belongs to a friend and she might come for it any time. I will use some milk for my household and the rest I will sell to educate my children. My son will be joining college soon and the rest of the transfers will cater for his school fees."

"The biggest hardship i have faced in my life is lack of food. Although i am a subsistence farmer i fail to yeild more because i do not manage to buy fertilizer hence i always strugle to feed myself"

"Receiving this money will help me build a way much better house as the one I currently live in is old and grass thatched. I would want to put up an iron sheet roofed house. I would also want to buy enough food as well as fertilizers for the next growing season."

"Receiving this money means food security to my house hold. This is because I do farming in a 1acre piece of land that I was given by my mother in law. The produce from this land is utmost 2 bags of 90 kgs that sustain my family of five for 2 months.I am planning to spend my first transfer to buy 2 acres of productive land that can produce more harvest to sustain my family. I will use $400 of my second transfer to buy 3 indigenous dairy cows to produce milk for consumption and also to sell the surplus to earn an income. The remaining amount will help me to cater for my basic needs like food."