"As subsistence farmers without any reliable source of income, receiving this transfer has made it easier for me to make substantial savings. A junk amount of the income from the taxi services that we offer with our motorcycle goes to our savings account. This suggests that our future is brighter than before because we will probably manage to raise funds for meeting our usual and emergency needs and demands."

"My life is different than it would have been if I never received the transfers in that I have bought a Bench mounting belt machine. We own a workshop at the town Center. We had bought one machine before, whenever I had many customers at my shop they could wait for a longer time to get their furniture ready. When I received the second transfer is was the best feelings ever since I was in a position to buy another machine. Currently the volume of work at the workshop is higher compared to when I had one machine. My customers get their furniture ready for collection on time. The amount of profit that I get nowadays is also much higher. This has enabled me to meet all my household expenditure and even pay school fees for my children on time. Before life was so hard, I could not even break-even in my business. All my earnings could be used on school fees and food for the family. I am so grateful for the support because GiveDirectly has changed our living standard and given us a source of income."

"In my opinion GiveDirectly does well by giving money to the poor in the village to build better houses and to pay school fees for their children. I do not find anything that GiveDirectly did not do well."

"I depend on livestock rearing as my source of income for my family. I have desired to boost my farming by adding more livestock because I sold most of them to educate my 3 children. Now, the elder child is in collage, the second one in secondary and youngest is primary school. I spent my transfer to purchase 5 goats and a cow which cost me a total $450 .I also use the remaining amount to clear the fee arrears for my kids."

"At the moment of receiving our transfer, we were very happy as we had been anticipating this big day since we were enlisted. The two officers who came to our household during the enrollment period had equipped us with all the information that we needed right from the security details to the good time of collecting the money from the agents. We also had a rough idea of the transfer timelines which minimized the excitement as we were expecting within those dates."

"At the moment of receiving the transfer, we were so delighted with many expectations. It was an unusual feeling to know that we had received a good amount to sustain us and ensure that some financial challenges we had were about to be mitigated. We thanked God and the whole GiveDirectly team for the consideration and inclusion in the program."

"It was around 9 AM when I was in my house dressing my youngest child when I saw a notification on my phone. On checking, I realized it was the cash transfer message from GiveDirectly. I felt happy because I knew the problem of poor shelter will finally have a permanent solution."

"I was preparing breakfast at exactly 9 AM when I heard continuous vibrations from my phone and I sensed there is an incoming message. Since I am illiterate I asked for assistance from my helper who was my son. On checking, he realized it was an Mpesa message from GiveDirecty. They had finally debited the first transfers that I was promised the enrollment which I thought wasn't genuine. Due to the excitement that I had, I even stoped cooking and started panning how best I could utilize the money."

"The fact that I am now a proud owner of a new house makes the biggest difference in my daily life. This is becasue, the initial house wasn't in a good state at all. Most of its walls had some cracks and during the cold seasons, my children were always attacked by pneumonia and asthma respectively. In regards to this, I had to spend a lot when seeking medical attention. Also even during the summer, some were forced to seek shelter from their friends because the house was not spacious. This issue had been a bother to me as a parent but I had to option becasue of the poverty life that had stricken my household. I am currently happy and proud becasue I no longer have to worry about the heavy downpours and even the heath of my children."

"Separating with my husband is the worst thing that I never imagined to happen in my life. This has made me a single parent with 3 children whom I take care of by myself. This has forced me to engage in odd jobs like charcoal-burning or even working as a farmworker for my neighbors to get a payment. Therefore, financial instability has ever been the biggest hardship that I have faced in my life."