"The location of my community in the ASAL region has brought with it a fair share of adversities. Most families depend on livestock and maize farming as source of income. When we faced a severe drought last year, I was devastated to lose all my produce in the farm to an unforgiving dry season. I sold three goats, the only property I owned to cater for unlimited needs in my household especially foodstuff for the entire period. With lack of money and knowhow to practice climate safe agriculture, my worry is that I would still face the repercussions of drought in the coming season which makes my life hard. "

"Receiving this money comes as a relief to me. It has always been my desire to start a tailoring business in my village; I have a certificate in tailoring and dress making. I have also been longing to buy a dairy cow and to rear some poultry for commercial purposes. Therefore, receiving this money is a big boost for me because I will be able to accomplish my plans. Thank you GiveDirectly."

"I expect my life to change in the next six months in that I will have bought a water tank. Therefore, I will no longer make several trips walking for a long distance to the water source to collect water."

"My expectation in the next six months is to ensure that I have built a kitchen. I know that when this dream actualizes, I will not be incurring an extra cost of buying charcoal whenever it rains. Currently, I don't have a proper structure, I cook in the open air which is usually impossible when it rains."

"Starting a shop business within the village, buying livestock especially goats and repairing my house is what receiving this money means to me. As at today, my usual job is to extract hard core stones for building, a work that is labour intensive yet it's income cannot fully support my family needs. When I receive my transfers from GiveDirectly, I will be able to achieve my life goals. I plan to use my first disbursement on starting a shop business in order to have a reliable source of income. The second transfer will support me in buying livestock, repairing my house and also supporting my children's education. This will change my livelihood and hence living a better life."

"Being a single mother of five, the biggest hardship i face is lack of financial support. My main source of income comes from engaging in tedious jobs such as fetching firewood from the forest and selling them in the nearby hotels and shopping centers. My health is deteriorating and sometimes i feel too weak to go to work but since my children fully depends on me, i got no option but to carry on. I therefore plan to buy a dairy cow that will help generate income daily upon selling milk in order to ease my struggles."

"Receiving this money means a food secure home for me and my family. I plan to buy new tools for my husband's mining business because the current ones are old and weak thus really slowing down his work. This will help us get more income that can be used to purchase food and other essential things. I also plan on buying indigenous dairy cows whose milk I can sell to my neighbors and thus make extra income to meet our family needs. "

"It was around 2 o'clock in the morning when I received a message notification. I decided not to read it due to the fear of the unknown and after some time of restlessness, I decided to wake up my daughter so that she would help me read the message. When she informed me that GiveDirectly had sent me the promised money, my heart was filled with happiness and I started singing silently. On that day, I could not take my breakfast due to the intense happiness that had filled my heart."

"The biggest difference in my daily life is that my family lives in our newly built house comfortably. At the same time, with the house being spacious enough we also have the privacy we need. Thanks to GiveDirectly for financing my long desired dream which used to seem impossible due to lack of money."

"My expectation in the next six months is to build a decent spacious house. Currently, I live in a small grass thatched one which leaks during the rainy season. This situation is normally uncomfortable, annoying and cumbersome since I have to move almost everything on a better side to avoid my staff being rained on mostly on rainy days."