"I am now slowly improving my house and my life.."

"i have spent the transfer on cement, paying labor for builders and food."

"I have not yet spent my money yet but I plan on using the money to purchase a bicycle and building a house."

"Financial constraints has been the biggest hardship I have faced in life. My husband and I are getting old and feeble to fend for our family. We have been unable to harvest enough maize in our 2acre land and sell the surplus due to unfavourable weather condition. Due to this, we have been harvesting approximately 12 bags in total thus unable to raise money to fence our compound and give our my husband time to rest."

"In my opinion, GiveDirectly does well in so many ways in my village. One the fact the money was non-refundable and unconditional was the best part of all. We were all given the opportunity to choose how best we could utilize the transfers according to our heart desires. Also, the GiveDirectly officers were so approachable and we were free to ask them any question that we needed clarification and they were there for us."

"Receiving this money will mean a lot to me and my family. My husband and I work as casual labourers and our combined income barely carters for our basic needs. I work as a cook at a near by secondary school and get paid 7,000 shillings only. I have children who need school fees and most of the time I can't pay for their school fees fully. When I receive this transfer I will build a bigger house and buy livestock. My house is small and my children have reached an age where it sometimes is inappropriate to share rooms as a whole family, so the bigger house will be able to accommodate all of the children.The livestock will be used as an investment for my children's education when we sell and sell milk from them."

"In my opinion, GiveDirectly did so well in my region in so many ways. First of all, during the baraza we were well educated on the security part and how careful we should be in making sure no one steals our money. Also, they taught and advised us on the appropriate ways of utilizing the money. This really enlightened and helped us greatly."

"The biggest hardship I have faced in life is the poor remuneration that I usually attain from our local employer. As a casual laborer who relies mainly on locally available jobs due to the relatively low levels of skills and knowledge I have, the poor payment that I usually attain could hardly suffice my basic needs. Hence, I have neve managed to save any money that would otherwise be used on developmental projects."

"The biggest hardship I have faced in life is taking care of my cattle and my grandchildren. Two of my daughters are unmarried and they left their two children under my care as they go look for food and other needs. Since our land is not fenced, and I have no funds for hiring a helper, I usually run up and down while looking after my relatively few cattle."

"I spent part of my first transfer n buying iron sheets, several building poles, timber, and nails. This was for the construction of a new house because the previous one was grass thatched and very small it could not accommodate some of my family members. Later on, I bought some livestock such as chicken and goats. I also cleared the school fees arrears for my children and since they had resumed there was a high chance of them being sent home for fees. With the remaining amount of money, I bought enough foodstuffs for my family."