"I have a big family of seven children and we do not always fit well in our previous house. This is because it was not big enough to accommodate us well especially at night. It was a one-roomed house and I would have to sent some of my children to sleep at my neighbours' house. Whenever I had visitors, I would have to really struggle to find sleep place for my visitors. As a result, I would not always feel comfortable asking for friends to visit me for sleep-overs. Due to this problem I have gone through for the last year, I started planning of how to get building materials to build a new house. At the time I was getting my first transfer, I had not even made any savings hence I used my transfer to buy building materials such as nails, cement, iron sheets and timber. I have used the materials to put up a three-bedroom house which accommodates us well with a good number of visitors. Thanks to GD for the transfer I no longer shy off from welcoming friends to visit me."

"I managed to clear my son's fees for the entire term which made him have comfortably stay in school without any fear of being sent away from school due to delays in fees payments. Having planted sugarcane is another difference in my life that I shouldn't have gained without GiveDirectly's transfers. This is because in my area, planting sugarcane is very marketable ,therefore, I believe from the harvest I will get early next year and sell in the nearby factory. These profits will assist me in paying school fees for my children and also provide for my family's needs without any struggles"

"My life is different from how it was in that I managed to buy a piece of land. I almost hated my father for selling most of the piece of land that he had promised to divide among us. I got self-satisfaction when I got to buy land with Gd's money. I do not hate my father anymore. I have forgiven him. I also get enough sleep which I was not able to get before because I was always stressed after my father sold a very huge piece of land leaving us with nothing to inherit"

"Waking up with bruises and tired due to the bad condition beddings been my life challenge. This scenario has turned my life into a laughing stock and I have always prayed that I should not receive guests as this means seeking accommodation from a neighbor. Therefore I consider inadequate finances as my biggest hardship."

"A reasonable house is generally what receiving this money means to me. As a trend in our village, people have recently been transiting from old, grass-thatched branded houses to semi-permanent or even permanent iron-roofed houses. I have always wished to build one but owing to the fact that I am a widow with no reliable source of income, this dream has never come through. With the arrival of GiveDirectly, I am confident that I will be able to construct a decent house once I receive my transfers. This will place me in the same living standard as that of my neighbors, something that will give me peace of mind and hence a honored life."

"My house has a leaking roof which makes it unbearable in this rainy season. I have spent several sleepless nights because I have to move things around the house to prevent them from being damaged. I will therefore purchase iron sheets to repair it because I am not happy with this situation. I will also clear part of my daughter's college fees so that she can undertake her end of semester exams. Besides, I will buy goats that will finance her education as well as generate income for family use . "

"Subsistence farming is not sufficient as it only provides food. This means I need an extra source of income to provide school fees, medical and clothes for my children. To supplement this, I have been burning charcoal but I stopped due to respiratory diseases. This has affected my financial status and I am struggling to take care of my family. The major issue is school fees which has withhold the results of my two children who completed school with fee arrears. It hurts me so much because my daughter missed the Kenya Police recruitment because she doesn't have her result slip. My 3 children who are currently in secondary school spent 2 weeks at home because of 5000 shillings. In this regard, I can say financial instability is my biggest hardship."

"I got a baby after form four and this angered my parents to an extent of neglecting me. Besides this, they barred me from getting married thus reducing me to a single mother. The most hurtful thing is that they refused to take me to college and took my younger sister instead. I have always wished to have a stable source of income to comfortably provide for my family. However, this is not the case because I do not posses any skills. I will therefore spend part of this transfer to enroll in a dress making college. After completing my course, I will open a tailoring shop in Bamba. This will improve my living as it will save me the agony of doing manual jobs to make ends meet."

"In the next six months, My life will have greatly changed to be better because I will have harvested most of my crops from the farm. I expect abundant harvest hence more income which will enable m to support my children education"

"Receiving this money will enable me to solve two major stumbling blocks in my life. I will be able to seek proper medication for my daughter who has been suffering from uncontrolled bleeding during her menses for 3 years now. I will also spend roughly ksh.50,000 to help me reduce on the accumulated fee arrears for 8 of my children which is totalling to ksh. 147,000 as follows : ( ksh.50,000 for the one in college, ksh.89,000 for 2 in secondary school and ksh.8000 for 5 in primary school. This debts have been accumulating and much as I strive to do different jobs like burning charcoal, extracting aloe vera juice and even selling the little harvest from farming, balancing between buying food,seeking for treatment and paying school fees has been an impossible mission to accomplish because back home, I have additional 4 dependants bringing the total number of people looking up to me for upkeep to 12 family members. Since I know that this money is not enough to help me achieve all this, I plan to broaden my source of income flow by investing in livestock trade and general shop business. Over time, I am sure that my income will be consistent thus reducing the heavy burden of finances that I am currently facing."