"The biggest hardship that I am faced with is lack of money to provide for my children. Since I separated with my husband, he has never bothered to support me in taking care of the children. I struggle to pay school fees for them because I want a bright future for them."

"The biggest hardship that I am faced with is lack of money to provide for my family. I cotribute school fees for my brother, take care of the medical bills of my family plus all other needs but money is a problem. I work at somebody else's salon as a barber but the money that I receive as pay is usually not enough for me to do all that I need to do. I have always tried my best to save some percentage of the money that I recieve but I end up using it when faced with a charllenge say for example when a child is sick. I just work for family sustainability."

"Expanding my dairy project had always been my prayer but had not been able to due to financial constraints. Buying another dairy cow using my transfers is so far the biggest difference in my daily life. As a result of this, I have been able to start selling some milk to my neighbors. I am also optimistic that it will be calving soon thus an increase in milk production. I will be using the income from this project to pay my children's school fees and to cater for my family needs."

"I depend on the casual jobs in the village and the small amount of money I get is never enough to cater to all the basic needs of the family. Sometimes I could miss getting these jobs and my family would go without basic needs. I had lived a stressful and demoralized life because of this. I have two grandchildren I take care of after their mother passed on. Raising their school fees on top of providing for the daily household needs had been a heavy yoke for me given that I am growing older and older. The biggest difference in my daily life is that I have bought a dairy cow. Currently, I no longer buy milk from the market thus save some amount from the casual jobs to meet other additional needs for the family including paying their school fees. I feel so happy my grandchildren are no longer sent home to collect school fees and this has led to an improvement in their performance. I no longer do much of the casual jobs but rather devote half of my time on my own farm. I live a stress-free life because I know at the end of each day I save some money from milk sales. I am so much grateful for the support it has greatly changed our living standard."

"When I received my first transfer, I spent part of it to buy a dairy cow worth KES 35000. As a farmer, I had always wished to see my farming doing better thus I decided to expand my dairy farming project so that I can get more milk to supply to our local cooling plant. Also, I bought a goat worth KES 5000 for rearing. When it reproduces, I will be selling the offspring to get money for my children's school fees and other financial needs arising in the future. I used the remaining amount to pay a down payment for a hand cart. I settled on this so that my spouse will be using it to supply firewood to different schools."

"Owning the goats has made my life to be so different so far. I settled in buying goats because, first, they can live in any climatic condition, they can easily be maintained, they reproduce twice a year and they mature faster compared to other domestic animals. I have been longing to rear them for a long period but I could not afford it because they were costly and I had some basic needs to cater to too. The coming of GiveDirectly had changed everything in my life completely because currently, they have started reproducing which is giving me hope as a farmer. When the offsprings mature and increase in number I will exchange them for a dairy cow and making me wealthier, because I will achieve a lot after selling them. From the benefits I will be getting I will be able to pay school fees for my children with ease unlike before when I used to strain to get their school fees."

"Before , I was employed as a barber in a nearby barber shop and the income was meager with a lot of demands such reporting to work early and living late meaning I didn't have time to spend with my family. My life is different from how it would have been if I never received this transfer I bought a motorcycle (Boda Boda) which I employed myself where I personally ride to make money.The money generated has helped me to sort my family's needs for instance paying school fees and feeding for my children. At the same time, I am able to schedule my work and create time for my family."

"Clearing my children's school fees is the biggest difference in my daily life. Seeing them waking up and rush to catch their lessons without missing any makes me so happy as a parent. My spouse is aged and jobless, this leaves me as the sole breadwinner of the family, but with my small business, paying school fees was important but I could not consistently do not it and only considered buying food as the most needed. This kept my children out of school. I paid school fees to enable my children to be literate and not illiterate like me. I feel so happy now seeing them rush for this gold called Education without hiccups."

"My life is currently different from how it was four months ago in that I no longer buy borrow shoes any more from my neighbors. Initially, I used to borrow shoes because I did not have one whenever I was invited to attend an official function. Therefore apart from paying school fees for my daughter, I bought shoes and these are the most things two things I have used my transfers. I am also proud to say that am staying a peaceful life full of hope as compared to before. This is as a result of the monthly income we receive from Give Directly. The stress of paying fees for my daughter I am relieved and I always thank Give Directly for changing my life."

"I spent part of my first transfer on buying four goats as my assets. I decided to buy goats because they are cheap compared to other domestic animals, they reproduce twice a year, they mature faster and they can be reared in any climate. I then bought some building materials, (iron sheets and building pole and some nails). I had been sleeping at my brother-in-law's house. This was so uncomfortable as I am a grown-up and minded about privacy which was not there at my brother inlaw's house as it was shared among many of us. While I slept at my brother-in-law, my children slept at their grandmother's house. This again was not sitting well with me as I could not watch them fall asleep. It hurts as a parent. Apart from suffering to put up a decent structure for my family, I was also struggling to pay their school fees and part of the money went to this course. At least they were able to study without being sent home like it was the norm."