"I don't have a house to live in . My house is falling down and leaking heavily during the rain season .I feel very cold especially during the night.I cannot sleep without having fire in my house to reduce the coldness. I do not have good beddings to sleep on. My husband passed away 15 years ago and my sons have their families to care. Receiving this money means I will repair my house and buy a new bed and a mattress.I will spend 60,000 KES to repair my house and buy a new bed and a mattress. I will spend 10,000 KES to buy new clothes and cooking utensils , 20,000 to buy food for my house and I will save 20,0000 for myself and keep as a security for any emergency case." (Occupation: Small business)

"I have been living from hand to mouth with my 3 children for 4 years now. My husband is working for a farm in kilifi and his salary cannot sustain the needs of my family so i usually skip a meal or two in a day. Hunger is my biggest hardship I have faced in my life." (Occupation: Small business)

"I spent my transfer on 10 bags of maize because I want to make sure I and my family are food secure for the rest of the year and more. I also bought cement to improve my house and make it bigger as my family gets bigger. I also run a business in the village, I cook and sell fish. I'll definitely put more money into this business." (Occupation: Small business)

"Really, my major challenge now is getting food for my children and getting money to start a business that will enable me to go back to school." (Occupation: Small business)

"Initially things were bad, our living situation was not pleasing since my husband and I relied on making and selling charcoals, selling sisal as well as herding other people’s livestock for a living. This kind of business was full of challenges such as attacks by wild animals while in the forest cutting trees. But since the day I received your support life has changed positively. My elder sons are happy have their own houses, the ones who are in school are also happy since they are now full time students unlike before when they could stay at home for almost 3 weeks because of school fees. Thank you Give Direct for having a greater positive impact in my life and family. May God bless GiveDirectly."

"The biggest hardship I have ever faced in my life is lack of money. This is because I depend on charcoal production as a source of income.The business is Labour intensive and the return is KES 2400.The money is not enough for all domestic needs such as food and water that I must buy since it scarce. The drought has caused a lot of stress and anxiety, one must have money to get water. Due to this I have been struggling to save money so as to uplift my life. Sometimes I feel so sad that I think it is like the world is against me ." (Occupation: Small business)

"I spent my transfers on buying 22 sheets of roof and bricks because I am improving my house. And I bought a mattress and 4 bags of maize." (Occupation: Small business)

"I have been struggling with an illness that caused me to spent all of my little business money I had. And lastly, to get my children education is so challenging for me."

"If I am successful for Give Directly Cash transfer program, I plan to start a business inorder to sustain myself and my family . I started making a good business when I was in Cape Mount in 1987 taking care of my family and other relatives. But later in 2004 things began very difficult for me to an extent that I couldn't maintain the business any longer. The business I was making collapse and I had to come back to my home town and start a new life by making farm in order to sustain us. Although I make farm to sustain my family but the money I earn from the farm is not enough to maintain the entire family; this alone has got me dissatisfied especially with our living conditions."

"If I receive this money, I will use some to start a business and use the balance to pay my son school fees which will bring me joy. The reason I want to make business with some of the money, I believe it will help improve our living conditions, my son and I. My husband and I had a large business running before and we also build houses to maintain the family but he left me and marry another woman so I left everything with him went away with one of my sons, since then, I have been striving to get things working for us."