"I had was aware that we were going to receive our money that day. I waited patiently the whole day to receive the money albeit with doubts. When the day ended and it was night time, my hopes were diminished. I slept feeling hopeless and somehow giving up. At around 5:00 am I heard my phone ring and on checking, I was so delighted to find out that I had just received a sum of KES 55000 from GiveDirectly. I could not control my joy then and I started screaming so loudly as I celebrated the moment. My children even got surprised with my actions but they could do little to control my actions then. Never before had I received such amount of money in my life before."

"Lack of reliable sources of income has been the biggest hardship in life. At the moment I depend on charcoal burning business, and given that I have 13 children under my care, it is difficult to sustain their needs. My greatest worry has been how to meet all of their educational needs, thankfully, Give directly has come at the most opportune moment. I now feel relieved knowing that my desires will be met."

"Lack of adequate resources has been my biggest hardship. The only resource that I was depending on was livestock. And having sold all of them due to the overwhelming educational needs of my children, it has been a hard time trying to figure out how to adequately provide for them without compromising on other needs. At the moment, I depend on subsistence farming, and maize is our main crop. However, for the past 5 years, I have registered dismal yields due to lack of enough rainfall and unpredictable climatical conditions. This means we have a food shortage and every time, I'm forced to purchase food from shops. It is constraining and oftentimes I incur debts to ensure that they get at least a single meal per day."

"My biggest hardship is supporting my son's education financially. Every term, he is required to pay 21000 shillings but my small income of 2000 shillings a month from charcoal making cannot afford it. To add, I have yet other son who has had to sponsor himself through college by doing odd jobs since I could not manage to pay for him. "

"My brother is finishing his secondary school examination this week. When he comes home, what better to keep him busy and give him a sense of responsibility than looking after a dairy cow? This is going to cost about $300 from the first transfer. I will also use some amount to buy food for my siblings and some for my up keep in college come January semester. "

"Despite having skills on dress making, I have not been able to start my own shop. This has forced me to depend on my husband in almost everything for my family's needs. I have wished to support him but this has been in vain due to lack of financial resources. This has eaten away my joy in life and therefore, lack of capital to start my business has been the biggest hardship in my life."

"Owning livestock especially dairy cows and an oxen has been my longest desired dream that I have never achieved yet. With the arrival of GiveDirectly to our village, I find myself having the confidence of achieving this ambition. My plan is to spend utmost $300 to buy an oxen that will help me to upscale my farming. On the other hand, I will use an extra $300 to buy 2 dairy cows that I will depend on selling the milk and earn me income. I will spend part of the remaining amount to buy new beddings in order to replace the old ones. This will change my livelihood for the better."

"I live with my spouse and child in a small hut which belonged to my late great grandmother.In our kalenjin tradition,when a person dies their house remains intact for sometime before it is demolished.Its been about two years since her death and in a few months this hut will be due for demolition.Had it not been for GiveDirectly,I do not know how I would have managed to buy building materials.Am grateful because this transfer came at an opportune time and will really help me build my own house.I also intend to buy a cow and some goats to provide an income for my family.Through this I know that I will be able to make savings and pay for my wife's college studies."

"The biggest hardship I have faced is raising school fees for my children.I have eleven children and at one point there were five of them all at once in Universities and secondary schools.Since we are not in any employment,it was always very difficult to raise these fees.I sold all the livestock I had and when I had no more and there was still need for more money,I had to sell a piece of land.As a result,I was left with less than an acre to cultivate on and no cow to provide milk both for consumption and as an income source.This has exposed the rest of the children to lack especially milk which is necessary in their diet.With the small piece of land,am not able to grow enough crops to sustain my family till the next harvest."

"I lost my wife two and a half years ago and things have not been the same since then.First ,it has been hard coming to terms with that.My home feels empty and again it has been hard for my children.The youngest child is 3 years old old now. Secondly,I have been left with all the family's burden and it has been hard balancing my shop business and home duties.This has affected my income.My wife used to take care of house chores and home duties like feeding and milking the cows as I operated the shop.I now have to do all of them on my own especially when my children are in school."