"Prior to receiving the money, my children and I had actually not eaten for about two days because I had no money and there absolutely no food in the house. It was a sad situation especially since I could not do anything about it but wait. So as soon as I received the transfers I went ahead and bought a bag of maize flour which contained twelve packets for KES 1320. I then took KES 1,400 and put it away because at the time schools were closed and they would open soon. I wanted to start saving up school fees so that my son would also go back to school like the rest of the kids when the institution resumed back for learning. I was left with about KES 280 which I used to buy chicken because I wanted to begin poultry farming for commercial reasons so that we would not have to always go hungry like we have been."

"Before even getting introduced to GiveDirectly I had a project where I did poultry farming at large scale but unfortunately a sickness came in and swept away almost over twenty hens that I owned. I suffered huge loses and planned on beginning the process again when I got the transfers. As soon as my turn came to receiving the money from GiveDirectly, I immediately went ahead and bought four more hens which cost me KES 800. I wanted my business to grow back to where it was earlier especially since I relied on selling the chicken to provide for the needs of my family which included mostly nutrition and tuition fee. After that I used KES 125 and bought a kilogram of sugar and saved the KES 200 that I was left with because my kids were soon going to back to school and I needed to be prepared to cater for school fees."

"I recently started building my new kitchen, but it stopped for lack of funds, upon receiving the transfer it will help me to finish my kitchen, and the remaining amount I plan to use it to buy few chicken for rearing which I can resell when passing through tough economic times."

"In February this year, one of my good friends surprised me with 2,000 KES as a gift. To always remember his good gesture of kindness, I bought 3 birds ( chicken). His act made me very happy because hopefully, I will be a renowned poultry farmer."

"Chicken rearing was so supportive that I could not complain of want. When I married, two years ago, the cost of living increased and the business could not keep up with the daily needs, it collapsed. It has been my wish to relaunch it in vain. Receiving this money gives me another opportunity to re- start the project. I am optimistic, within three months, I will have saved 6 000KES which is enough to kick start the income generating activity. With 20 chicken for a start, I will be able to make a profit of 5 000KES in three months. Additionally, I plan to spend 10 000KES of my transfers to buy a bed and a mattress as I leave my current bed for my two children."

"My husband who was the breadwinner of the family got accident that left him bedridden two years ago. Even since then, I have been the sole provider of my family through Charcoal burning. The business right now is not flourishing as it used to be two years ago because of COVID-19 impact and harsh economic conditions that we are facing as a country. My husband needs regular check-ups and with KES 400 that I earn per week, I cannot afford to provide for the family, pay school fees and cater for his medication. Most times, I'm forcing to borrow to be able to pay all the bills. If I had an alternative source of income, it wouldn't be a struggle as it has been. I had been thinking of starting a poultry farming business but I didn't have money to buy the chicken. With the recent transfer, I spend KES 1000 to buy 3 chicken and I'm hoping to buy more as the time progresses. I spend KES 1000 to buy school uniform for two of my children who had torn uniform and KES 1000 to buy food."

"I separated from my husband 10 years ago. Since then, I've been taking care of my two children solely. One is in class 5 and the other in class 4. Their total school fee is KES 6000. To manage this, I have a business where I buy coconuts and then trade them in the market. It earns me around KES 400 to KES 500. Whenever I get stuck, I often reach out to my family for some help. Before the children closed school, I had a school fee arrears of KES400. I used the funds from give directly to settle the debt. For the amount that remained, I bought a chicken to add to my poultry and some food as I had run out of some."

"Receiving this money means I will be able to build a house. I live in one house that doubles up as a kitchen and a bedroom.I will spend about KES 50,000 on this and also buy a water tank to collect rain water, at about KES 30,000 .With the remaining KES 20,000, I will start a poultry keeping business to support me as a source of income.Ibwill spend what I make on daily household needs. Ultimately, I aim at growing income from selling eggs upto KES 2000 per day but for a start, with about 20 chicken that I will buy as soon as I receive the transfers, I will be making at least KES 1400 per week."

"Ever since my father passed away, I have grown up seeing my mother struggle to provide us through Charcoal burning a job that is not easy given the harsh climatic condition in our region. Having graduated from high school, I wanted to start poutry farming so that I can be able to raise my collage fees and support my mother with raising my four siblings. I wasn't able to raise capital to buy chicken for start up by myself because I didn't have a job but being enrolled into the program opened doors for me. I spend KES 1400 to buy 4 Chicken for start up and gave my mother KES 1600 to clear a debt that she had. I'm hopeful that with the business and monthly transfers, I will be able to join collage and also support my mother with paying school fees for my siblings."

"I was a livestock keeper and that's what I fully depended on to provide for my family ( wife and four children). All my livestock died during the severe drought last year and I was left with nothing to depend on. Since I had a family to provide for, I had to look for job and my uncle offered me a job as a herdsman. He has been paying me a monthly salary of KES 3000 per month and he also allowed me to be selling milk whereby I earn KES 100 per day. When I was enrolled into the program, my goal was to start a poultry farming business. I spend KES 1000 that I received as my first transfer to buy four small sized chicken and KES 2000 to buy food which can last us for a month. I'm looking forward to spend my second transfer to build a chicken house which can accommodate them as I plan to add some more others as the yes progress."