"I had been buying milk for my family of six for more than three years prior to receiving GiveDirectly support. On a typical day, I would spend at least $2 on milk, sometimes up to $5 if we had visitors. I purchased a heifer a few months ago, but that did not eliminate the additional cost of purchasing milk. When I received the second transfer, I spent $230 on a lactating cow, which has been providing us with at least four liters of milk per day. We no longer spend money on milk unless we have visitors and need to add a few liters. I also paid $100 in school fees for my son, who attends a private elementary school. I was paying $80 per term, but I had to add $20 because I had some pending arrears. I also purchased $70 worth of groceries for my family, and the remainder was spent on new pairs of clothes for my four children. I am grateful for the assistance, which has changed a lot in my household and given me hope that I will do much better with the ongoing projects."

"By the time I received the second phase of the GiveDirectly transfer, my four primary school children were two days out of school due to examination money and fee arrears amounting to $80. Therefore, I made it a priority so that they could go back to school before it was too late. I sent the $80 to the school and they happily resumed classes. This gave me joy because I had no means of taking them back to school; thanks to the second transfer from GiveDirectly. After that, I settled down and decided to invest in livestock. I bought six goats for $250. I choose goats over cows because of the climatic condition in our area which is very dry. Goats can survive in harsh climatic conditions compared to cows. I also started a business of selling sardines to keep myself busy since I am very old. The aim of starting the livestock investment was to assist me to provide for my family because goats can be exchanged for money easily. This investment has made me take a rest from the tiring job of making and selling charcoal which I was relying on yet it was unreliable. To some extent, we went without food for two days a week. I used the remaining amount to buy some food. Currently, I am very happy because since I received the second transfer, my family and I have been getting some food on daily basis."

"I am a peasant farmer and I am among the few in my community who have not been fortunate enough to own a dairy cow. Although I have been dreaming to own one someday, I have not been able to raise the money to buy one. I have been buying milk for my two children everyday and this money would have been saved towards some other needs if I had a cow. When I was enrolled in the program, I saw this as a dream come true because I knew I would own one in the near future. I spend $200 of my second transfer to buy a dairy calf, $80 to buy two goats and I have been spending the balance to buy food for my family and other basic needs."

"I bought a dairy cow with part of my first transfer and I am looking forward to buy another one by next year. Accomplishing this means that I will no longer be buying milk every single day and I will be able to save on that. I will also be able to sell milk and earn some income and therefore support my husband with paying school fees for our children."

"Since I have some few cows, I want to start a business of selling and buying livestock with what I have now. I am hopeful that the business will grow overtime and I will therefore be able to pay school fees for my children without much struggle like it has been. It will earn me some better income compered to what I have been earning as a casual worker."

"I am looking forward to taking care of my dairy cows that I bought so that they can multiply. This means that, I will be able to sell milk and earn some income in future and I will not be a burden to my family at my old age. They will find it easy taking care of me and I am grateful to GiveDirectly as all this will not have been possible were it not for the transfers."

"For the longest time, I have lived without a dairy cow and my desire has been to own one so that I can be able to get enough milk for my children and for sale to supplement my income. Although I am a teacher and doesn't earn much, I had also desired to buy my wife who is a housewife a cow so that she finds something to engage in and help me with the family responsibilities. When my children joined high school I couldn't fulfil my wishes because of paying school fees and debts that I had. I spend $200 of my second transfer to pay school fees balance for my children in high school and the balance to buy a cow which hopefully, will give birth in one years time. I am grateful to GiveDirectly for I could not have achieved all these were it not for the transfers."

"I do subsistence farming for a living. I have been growing grass to feed my cow although in small quantities. In the coming year and beyond, I will hire a bigger piece of land to grow varieties of grass to be sold to those keeping livestock like cows. There are very few people from my community doing such a business as the process is so involving. This will yield enough profits for the basic needs like food , clothing and education for the children who are still in Primary School."

"I used the transfers to pay for school fees of my kids who are in secondary school. Before the transfers my children were in and out of the school and they almost dropped out of school due to lack of school fees. I used kshs 15,000 to clear their fees arrears that have accumulated for the last one year. I also started a new business of selling ladies clothes for kshs 20,000 in a nearby market, so far the business is doing so well and I get enough profits to cater for food for my family of five. I never had a cow before, I used kshs 15,000 to buy a female cow for milk production for my family consumption. I thank Give Directly for the transfers."

"In the coming year and beyond, I am planning to start up a small business of selling groceries and second hand clothes. Before I lost my parents I was doing business and it collapsed since I used all the money I had to arrange for their burials. I have experience in such businesses, with the trend in my community , groceries and second hand clothes businesses have high demand since very few practice such. I will be saving the profits in order to buy a female cow for milk production for consumption and sale."