"Receiving this money means good housing, good education for my children and food security. I have 5 children. Sleeping under the same roof with my children lowers my dignity. I intend to use 30,000 KES to construct another house. I will then transfer to the new house together with my wife and leave the older house to my children. The five children are also attending school. Paying their school fees has been a challenge to me. I work as a charcoal burner. The money I get is not sufficient to feed us and also pay school fees. I am planning to use 10,000 KES to clear school fee arrears of my children. I will then use 15,000 KES to buy 5 goats. Goats will help me buy food in this way. When the goats grow and start increasing in number. I will be selling a few and earn income. I will then be using that income to buy food for my family. I will also use 10,000 KES to reinforce my old house. The house that I will leave for my children. Once I reinforce the house with pillars made of stones, it will be strong and durable. The remaining amount of money will go into buying food for my family."

"Receiving this money will help me restart livestock farming. I used to have a number of livestock but I recently sold them due to pressing needs such as school fees and the current drought situation. When I receive the transfers, I intend to major on goat keeping since they survive better than cows in this dry climate. I intend to spend KES 15,000 to buy 5 goats. Goat keeping for me is a good investment for the future especially when it comes to paying school fees and dealing with medical emergencies. I also have a plan of using KES 10,000 to reduce my dowry deficit which made my wife leave. Another KES 10,000 will go into paying school fees and buying food."

"The moment I received the transfer I felt so happy. I remember it was around 11 am when I was checking my phone after a very busy morning. I work in a dispensary as a nurse. I could believe my eyes. There was message confirming that I have received money from GiveDirectly. I immediately inform my spouse and he felt so happy too. We had not paid the school fees for our children and I decided to sent him KES 20,000 for school fees. The rest of the money we planned on purchasing a dairy cow to cut the daily cost of buying milk. I am so happy because GiveDirectly enabled me to pay school fees for our children in time."

"The biggest difference in my daily life is that I have build a better house for my family. We used to live in a small mud house which could not host all the family comfortably. I cemented the floor to be free from dust. All our children are not at home and maintaining a mud house isn't easy that since it needs to be smeared. We do small scale farming, we plant maize, beans and potatoes. This is for family consumption we didn't had extra to sell to earn an income. We have a dairy cow, this makes us get enough milk for my family and we sell the surplus at the market to earn an income. The amount of money that we get through this is only for school fees for our children and any emerging issue. We didn't had savings to build a better house. When we received the first transfer we found it wise to invest on building a better house. Currently we have a spacious and decent house. We live so comfortable and happy. We are no longer exposed to dust particles which might caused respiratory related diseases. We are so grateful for the support because GiveDirectly has changed our living standard."

"I spent KES 20,000 to buy an ox. This is an investment because I will sell in the next eight months at a higher cost to buy a dairy cow. I paid KES 10,000 for school fees for my children in secondary school. This enabled them to study well without being sent home to collect the school fees. I gave out KES 10,000 as church tithes, I bought furniture, solar panels for lighting the rooms. The rest of the money I added to my business of buying cows from farmers and selling at the market. I am so happy because GiveDirectly has changed my living standard."

"The biggest hardship I have faced in my life was in 2020 when I had to struggle to pay school fees for my son. He was on form 2 then and he kept on being sent back from school because we had not paid fees so I decided to just sell some of my livestocka (3 goats) of which I was given by a certain project, I cannot remember the project."

"I am living together with my bother. Our parents died in a car accident more than 10 years ago and we were raised by our cousin. After completing my primary school education, I decided to work for my cousin, grazing his cattle so that I can manage to feed myself and cater for our needs in the house. My brother finished his primary school education and was not able to join secondary school because of luck of school fees.My brother has been dreaming to be a carpenter for years but the amount of money I am paid from my job is 4000 KES only which is not enough to cater for our daily needs plus taking him to do his course.Receiving this money means I will take my brother to college to pursue the course of his choice."

"I thank you alot for giving me this opportunity, this money is here in a right time, my wish will be fulfilled, I will atleast I will now build a proper house, I have been having a dream to have a good looking house one day, like those are employed, I will also build a proper separate building for some livestock, I will also keep some of the money for my daughters school fees"

"Receiving this money means better education for my 4 children, among them 2 are in secondary school while 2 are still in primary. I have been struggling in paying their school fees because currently, I am a charcoal vendor, a job that earns me very little (6000 KES) per month. This income cannot fully sustain us and consequently, my children have been sent out of school frequently. I plan to spend a better part of the first transfer (50000 KES), to pay school fees for my children. This will enable them to settle in school and thus, a good performance. On the other hand, I intend to spend the remaining amount to buy 7 goats which I will be assured of early profit since they do multiply faster as compared to cows. This will eventually change our livelihood, a transformation that I have admired for a long time."

"I am failing to feed my family properly, I struggle to buy fertilizer for farming and also am unable to pay school fees for my children."