"With a better share of my first transfer, I constructed a new kitchen that has so far served us well with an extra room that has provided a bed space for my children. I spent KES 25000 on sourcing all the materials including 15 iron sheets, building poles, timber, and nails. I also met the cost of delivery to the construction site and in addition, I paid the labor charges on the construction worth KES 5000. I later obtained a bed and other pieces of furniture worth KES 10000, new pairs of clothes for my family of seven at KES 9000, and also a large water container worth KES 2000. After a long time of using a lantern lamp that would exude a lot of fumes, I spent the remaining amount on obtaining solar lighting equipment that has enhanced the general lighting of my house and is also useful in the evening studies for my children."

"I am a widow and a mother of six. To feed my family I normally rely on water vending for the last 13 years and in a day I get up to KES 100. When I received my transfers, I was very happy since my dream of owning land had come to pass. I, therefore, spent KES 50,000 on a quarter an acre of land. This is because I am a widow and as a result, I have been ill-treated by my inlaws over land hence the need to own land. The remaining KES 3,200 I spent on a bag of maize that can still sustain us for the next one week. Earlier I used to spend KES 300 daily on a household budget but after the transfers, the budget has reduced to KES 200. I also spent KES 1,500 on the payment of school fees for my kids in primary school. Before, I used to do rope weaving for school fees."

"From the first time I heard about give directly, my main intention was to build a new house for myself. This is because the one I live in is old and on the verge of collapsing. Making it not safe. So, I used my third and a fourth transfer to buy some logs. Then with my fifth and sixth ones, I paid a builder for the construction of the house. In all, I have been using KES 2000. The balance that remained, I utilized in buying some food and water. The current drought situation in my area has pushed people to walk long distances to get water and since I have a leg injury, I always opt to pay someone to do it for me. I did not have funds for this because the school I worked in as a cook had not gotten any food donations rendering me jobless for two months and often, I would depend on my two children for some financial support."

"I was diagnosed as an asthmatic patient in 2001. The doctors cautioned me about doing strenuous work. So, I had to stop my charcoal manufacturing business and I am now a community volunteer. Here, I do not get salaries but rather allowances to help me get by, leaving me to depend on my husband, who works as a casual laborer at a steel manufacturing company. He earns very little and thereby struggles to get food for us as he is polygamous. When I got my transfer, I used KES 1500 to buy food and water, KES 1200 went towards my medical check-up, and the remaining KES 800, I bought two ducks to improve my poultry farming business. My intention of Investing in ducks is because they rarely contract illnesses plus there is a high demand for them, where one sells at KES 1,000. So far, I have six of them. From this business, I believe I will be able to satisfactorily provide for my two children, who are in school."

"We spent KES 25000 of our recent transfer on buying a cow. We bought it because it has been our wish to have a cow of our own. We do not have our source of milk and hence we are usually supplied with some from home for our consumption. When the home cows are dry, I am forced to take some of the milk that I usually sell at my business for our consumption. We were not able to achieve this dream of owning a cow because we didn't have the money. The money that I make from this milk-selling business is not much, it is only enough to buy food, household items, and pay school fees for my four children. Other than the above, we also spent KES 8000 on buying new clothes for our children. We also bought three bags of maize for our consumption at a total cost of KES 12000. We usually grow maize but most of the time it does not usually do well since it gets affected by some pests. We also bought a water container at KES 2000 and a big cooking pot at KES 2000. I have the remaining amount saved, which I am planning to use on paying school fees for my children. Thank you so much GiveDirectly for supporting us."

"The biggest difference in my daily life is that I was able to accomplish a pit latrine project that was left halfway before due to financial constraints. In addition to that, I was able to connect a clean water supply to our home. Meaning that we would have sufficient water for our domestic consumption. Our living standards have been uplifted amazingly, thus we are forever thankful for the support that brought so much happiness to our lives."

"The biggest difference that the transfer has brought into our lives is that with having bought the water tank, we have managed to collect rainwater and hence we now have access to clean water for our household use. The children are also happy because they now have new clothes to wear and enough food to eat."

"Upon withdrawing the money, the first thing we did was send some school fees to our child who is in college doing a diploma in education. Since we were struggling so much in paying his fees we opted to pay the arrears and also a bigger percentage of the semester fee thus I sent KES 36000.00. Thereafter, I used KES 3000.00 to fix some tap water at my home. I also bought some school uniforms for my grandchild and a mattress for KES 3600.00. Since my house had some leakages at some parts of the roof, I bought four pieces of iron sheets for KES 4600.00 and made some renovations. For the remaining amount, I bought some food for my family and saved KES 7000.00 for emergencies."

"Initially, I was struggling so much in terms of sourcing and fetching some water for my family bearing in mind that water is a necessity in life. As of now, I feel relieved from the hardship I used to pass through after fixing my tap water at home. Sincerely this could not be possible anytime soon if it were not for GiveDirectly."

"Completing building the house is the biggest difference that the money has made in my life since I started receiving the transfers. During a heavy downpour, I am forced to stay awake and drain out the water sipping through the leaking roof. The cracks on the walls caused by the falling mud due to the rainwater have made the house weak and unsafe to live in. The situation has changed after I repaired the house and I now have peaceful nights and worry less about my safety sleeping inside the house."