Through the unconditional cash transfers, we are able to pay school fees for our children and this will decrease the school drop out rate as most children used to drop off school because they were unable to pay school fees. We are also able to cater for our basic needs and we are grateful for giving us the opportunity to choose how to spend the transfers.

Both my husband and I have been burning and selling charcoal to provide for our six children and pay school fees for four of them who are school going. For sometimes now, the business has not been doing well due to saturation because majority of people in the area have turned into the business since they cannot do farming anymore due to drought. The charcoal prices have gone down and therefore very low returns which is not enough to provide for my family given the rising standards of living. A sack of charcoal which we used to sell at KES 800 now goes for KES 400. We have been thriving in debts and life has become very challenging for us. All my children's school uniform became torn and they had to start wearing non- school uniform. I spend KES 1000 to buy school uniform for two of them and I'm looking forward to buy the other two when I received next month's transfer. I also spent KES 1000 to pay debts and KES 1000 to buy maize floor which can last us for two weeks.

I was inside my house resting while in deep thoughts on where I would get money to pay the exam fees for my children. I had previously tried to sell the bags of charcoal I had to potential buyers, but I was unsuccessful. While still resting, I heard my phone vibrating loudly, and this distracted me and took me away from the deep thoughts I was having. I checked my phone and realized that I had received a text message. Since I could not read the contents of the message, I called my son who read it and informed me I had received the money. I jumped up and down and I even, at some point, knelt down and prayed to God, thanking him for the miracle. I quickly rushed to the Mpesa and withdrew the money.

The biggest difference the transfer has made is to enable my children to sit for their exams. I t would have been a big disappointment to them had they not sat for their exams. I am that they performed well in their papers and I was proud of them and grateful for receiving the transfer.

I have been struggling to pay school fees for my four children who are in school. My children are in class 4, 3, 2 and the youngest Pp 1, respectively. I do not have a well-paying job and neither does my husband. I burn wood to make charcoal for sale whereas my husband raises livestock on the farm. We own the livestock and that means he is not paid to take care of the livestock. The amount I earn from selling the charcoal is not enough to pay school fees for my children and the same time take care of my family. My children are posting excellent results in their school work and this motivates me to want to go an extra mile to pay their school fees so that they can continue with their education with no interruptions. My son wants to join the army once he completes his studies, while my daughter wants to become a doctor. When I received the transfer, I spent KSH 400 to exams fees for all my children so that they could sit for their end of term exam. In addition, I spent the rest of the money to buy food for my children to eat during their exam period. By eating well, this will give them the energy needed to eat and sit for their exam papers and perform well.