"Our most urgent need at the moment is a bigger house that can accommodate all of us. We are a family of 9 members all squeezed under one room. Some of my children are now becoming teenagers so you can imagine the shame of a father sharing a bed with his teenage daughter. Secondly, I will invest in indigenous goats because they are more drought tolerant compared to cows. Lastly, I will save the remaining balance in my bank account for rainy days. "

"Being a farmer, I have faced many challenges in terms of meeting my family's basic needs. This is because, rains in our area are unpredictable something that makes our farm produce low. Therefore, I consider recurrent droughts as my biggest hardship."

"I managed to buy new beddings not only for myself but also for the kids. Once that was in place, I made sure that I paid enough school fees for them so that they don't get chased away from school due to lack of payments. The livestock that I bought using the cash would have never materialized were it not for the cash transfers from the organization. I also thank God that I was able to build a new house for my family and moved away from the small dilapidated house where we used to stay before."

"I currently own one dairy cow, whose milk has financed my child's education. Now that GiveDirectly has come to our aid my plan is to spend part of the first transfer to purchase another dairy cow and a few sheep. Such assets will act as security for my family's welfare and upkeep. On a rainy day I would sell a sheep or two to meet a necessity and future uncertainties to keep my family above water. I would further spend the remaining amount to build a new house for me and my children. "

"Imagine losing employment thanks to retirement and with a young family to take care of. Life has been hard post retirement. A catering job I had been doing for over 30 years came to a halt four years ago. All my children are still pursuing education at different levels from college down to primary school. Since my wife is unemployed, we've had to depend on farming which also is an unsustainable source of income due to perennial droughts. Matter of fact, my eldest son completed secondary education and has stagnated at home for lack of money and my worry is that his siblings would drop out of school too. This is the biggest hardship I've faced in my life. "

"Receiving this money is akin to the biblical analogy of an optimistic sight of Canaan. It is unbelievable that I am going to receive a windfall of KES 110,000. For the first time in my life I am going to own a dairy cow and land of my own thanks to GiveDirectly. Income from sale of milk from my cow will enable me contribute to a savings and credit cooperative in the village which will in future finance my children's education and expansion of land. "

"My life has improved because I was able to pay school fees for my children both in university and secondary level without hardships. I 'm also certain that, through the produce I have stocked. I will be position to pay school fees for next term/semester. Before these transfers I depended on loans because my salary was not enough being teacher in a local government school."

"Owning a dairy cow is the greatest achievement I had ever since Give Directly came into my life. I decided to do dairy farming because apart from getting milk from it, I will also be selling the remaining liters to my neighbors. It has been my desire for a long period of time but because I was a casual laborer I could not afford it. The cow is already providing us with milk, I am glad since my children are now healthy because of this milk. Apart from that, there are some liters which I sell to my neighbors which is earning me a good amount of money. I am feeling like I have been empowered financially through these transfers."

"My life is much better because I now sleep like a king on a comfortable mattress and I acquired livestock. This is something that I could not have achieved on my own. In the past, I remember I used to sleep on mats which were very uncomfortable. I had just been released from prison and I had no income generating activity. I am very proud of my possessions and especially the house that I built because of GiveDirectly. GiveDirectly has given me a new life I never thought I would lead."

"I expect to save and buy the building materials that I shall have used to plaster my mud house. I look forward to living in a very beautiful plastered house by then. I also expect to save more and pay school fees for my children so that they can have a quality education."