"The famine situation in our area has paralyzed a lot of activities since most of us are struggling in putting food on the table. The small income that I was earning, I usually spent it all to acquire food for the family. I had nothing left for development projects. After receiving my transfer, I spent KES 600 to purchase 3 chicken to start small-scale poultry farming. This is a reliable source of income for me. Furthermore, I had no food for the family so I spent a larger part of the remaining to acquire food. I bought different foodstuffs like maize flour, and beans and saved KES 500 for any financial emergency. I am planning to use KES 2500 of my next transfer to restart the goat rearing activity that I had been doing sometimes back. Previously, my goats died due to drought conditions."

"I spent my most recent transfers on buying livestock which includes a goat at Ksh. 3000 and a chicken at KES 300. These are living assets that I can readily rely on to settle my financial needs. I am expecting them to multiply and increase in number. Since I do not have a source of income, owning this livestock is my financial security. I spent the remaining amount to buy food for my family. For the last few months, food has been a challenge for me. I solely depended on subsistence farming which did not do well due to inadequate rainfall in our region. I had to buy daily which is expensive and at times I had to stay without food. I thank GiveDirectly because I had enough food in my household after receiving the transfer."

"I spent most of my recent transfer on building another house that is made of timber planks on the walls and cemented on the floor. I decided to build that kind of house because the one that I use to live in was made of mud. I have grown old and I am no longer able to look for mud and do the work of mudding the house. I hence bought building materials, that is, stones, gravel, sand, cement, and iron sheets which were quite expensive. It has always been my wish to build a permanent house but I was not in a position to since I didn't have the money. I have a few chickens that I rear. I usually sell the eggs to get money for buying food, that is, maize and some household items. At times, I sell a chicken. I use to have some sheep but I had to sell them one by one to get money for food and upkeep. I at times depend on my children to buy food for me when I don't have money. I am thus grateful to GiveDirectly for making this wish come true for me. With the remaining transfer amount, I spent it on buying maize for my consumption."

"Being unable to work due to my deteriorating health conditions has continuously made my life miserable. I have been depending on my relatives for all my essential needs. The coming of the transfer has offered great help for me, particularly in terms of meeting my daily needs like food. I spent KES 1,580 to purchase one bundle of maize flour which is equivalent to 24 kg. I also used KES 150 to buy one chicken to start poultry rearing a future investment for myself. With the remaining amount, I bought building poles, I intend to construct a new house. The one I have is old, grass-thatched, and leaking during the rainy period. I am forced to spend sleepless nights during the rainy season because of the leaking rooftop."

"Two months ago, I don't all my poultry to a strange disease. It was a huge loss and my heart still bleeds whenever I think about it. However, I have not lost hope. I will use these funds to buy more chicken, medicine they would bees, and food. I will revive my poultry farming and I am excited about it."

"Lack of a stable source of income makes it more difficult to make ends meet. My husband, who is the sole provider for the family, is a casual staff and works as a driver in a different town. I have been working as a charcoal burner in order to support my husband with our daily expenses. The charcoal business has become hard and competitive and at the moment, there is not much I can do. I spent my transfer of KES 2700 on food and KES 300 to buy one chicken."

"My daughter was blessed with a baby girl in the month of April. This brought joy to my life. My son-in-law was very happy about such blessings, he called the pastor who came to bless the girl. He extended his appreciation in a way I liked because he slaughtered chicken for me and gave me some gifts like clothes. This made me feel happy for having a caring son-in-law."

"I had thought of starting some projects, one was to keep the chicken and the other was maize farming both were on a large scale. The undertakings were to begin as soon as I got money but unfortunately, the flow of cash has not been that consistent. Though I planned to start these projects, there are also other important things that I will do first when I receive these transfers and one of them is paying school fees for my children so they can learn without any disruptions. I plan to divide the transfers to achieve all these as follows; 30,000 KES for school fees, 40,000 KES for the farming project, 30,000 for chicken rearing, and keep the remaining balance for food. Receiving this money, therefore, means my dreams will be accomplished and I will also not have to worry about school fees anymore."

"I spent part of my first transfer on paying school fees of KES 15000 for my two children. I am now a happy parent after seeing them going to school every morning like their friends. To add to that, I bought a wire mesh at KES 8000. This was for the construction of a special house for the chicken and ducks. Also, I bought two goats, four chickens, and three ducks for a total of KES 9000. I settled for them because I trust they will multiply within a short period since they have a shorter gestation. In addition to that, I bought foodstuffs for my family and other household items that I was lacking at the moment."

"When my husband died, our last born son was then breastfeeding and I have been doing everything possible that I could to raise them. Before I was enrolled in the program, my last born had just graduated from high school and he was planning to end his education journey because I'm now at my old age and unproductive and his siblings who could have supported him to join collage don't have reliable jobs and they have families to provide for. When I was enrolled in the program, he was so happy because he knew the money was going to support him join collage. He was so patient because he didn't give up despite staying out of school for one year and his patience finally paid. When I received my first transfer, I gave him KES 30000 which he spend on his school shopping and school fees. He has already started his first semester and I'm looking forward to spend my next transfer to clear the balance of KES 20000 for his first semester and pay for his second semester. I also spend KES 4000 to by bed and I have now been sleeping comfortably compared to previous days when I used to sleep on the floor. I spend the balance to by chicken which I started rearing and the goal was to be able to sell them in the near future and to ensure that my son finishes his collage studies. I'm so grateful to GiveDirectly for the support as all this would not have been possible were it not for the transfer."