"Being self employed and not receiving a constant adequate monthly salary, GiveDirectly has played a major role ever since I received the KES 55000. I paid a total of KES 4000 to purchase a sack of maize which I take to the posho mill for an exchange to get maize flour for ugali. More to that, I set aside KES 25000 for water piping as this was a scarce basic commodity and a further KES 14000 for electricity wiring around the homestead. Having nine children, I was able to offer a much enhanced area for their rest by purchasing a new bed and mattress all totalling to KES 10000. The balance of KES 2000 has been the daily use for food production ensuring we do not sleep hungry."

"When I withdrew the money, the first thing I did as per my plans was to buy six goats for KES 19800.00 and cows for KES 14000.00. I bought these animals so as to start the long journey of livestock raring since it was my desire to have livestock. It is so unfortunate that one cow died during the drought season but this will not discourage me instead it gives me the zeal to source for more livestock. Thereafter, I opted to keep the remaining amount so that it could help us in buying some food and water since it was very dry and harvests did not do well as expected."

"With the transfer, I was able to build a more spacious iron-roofed house for my family. Because of this, we will enjoy our privacy as a family and my children will not be sleeping at my inlaw's house anymore since they can always sleep in the kitchen. In addition to this, I am happy that I will be able to harvest rainwater for domestic use during the rainy season and use the time that I would have spent going to the river on something important."

"My daughter is in an academy and despite being the only child, she was constantly out of school since we were not able to pay for her school fees on time. This is because I depend on farming while my spouse who is the breadwinner for our family works at the construction sites in Nairobi and he has to pay for house rent, water, and electricity bills and transport to and from work. On receiving my transfer, I spent KES 8000 to clear fee arrears for my daughter so that she would not be sent back home and also used KES 25000 to build a more decent kitchen for my family. I settled on this since we had been using a section of our sitting room as the kitchen and it was difficult making meals when having visitors around. In addition, I spent KES 15000 on the purchase of a calf and used the remaining amount on food, clothes, and other household necessities."

"I have been selling dairy bells for the past 21 years. From this, I make KES 1200 a day working two days a week only during open-air market days. This has helped to feed my family and school my kids over the years. This is because farming in our place is unreliable due to long dry spells. So when I received my transfer I spent KES 28,000 on a heifer because it will soon reproduce and be a good milk source. This is because I had only one cow which would be unreliable during dry spells. Secondly, I spent KES 6000 on clearance of school fees arrears for my son in high school. This has given me space to look for next term's school fees. Thirdly, I spent KES 6600 on two bags of maize. This will help sustain my family for a long time. Furthermore, I spent KES 4500 on beddings because my kid's beddings were worn out. Lastly, I spent KES 4500 on a 410 liters water storage container that can store volumes of water, especially during rainy seasons. This is because our place is marked by long dry spells hence water scarcity."

"Receiving this money means access to clean and safe water. Our area is prone to drought and our source of water is from the dam 1 kilometer away. It is usually tiresome to carry water enough for household use and besides the water is dirty and not safe for drinking. So when I receive this transfer I will spend KES 35000 of my transfer to purchase 5000 liters water tank. I will then harvest rainwater from my house and the remaining amount I will purchase a dairy cow."

"Getting safe water for household use is a big challenge that I and many residents of this area face. The situation is made worse by the fact that I do not have a water tank to harvest whenever it rains. Every day I wake at 5 am and head to a water pan that is 2kilometers away from home. I make 4-5 trips because once is not be enough to last the entire day. I will be perceived to be lazy if I fail to do this because this is what society expects of me as a woman of the house."

"We stay in a family land that has not yet been sub-divided. It is a forest and we are not allowed to cut down trees for a substantial portion for farming.Receiving this money means possession of land to me. I intend to buy a portion of land two hectares for 30,000 KES, where I can farm during the rainy season. I have two bulls in my compound, I will buy a plough so that I can be able to cultivate a bigger portion of land. This can help me get more food for my family (3 children and 5 grandchildren). I can also rent my bulls to cultivate other people's land at a fee. This will help me get revenue to buy water and pay school fees for my children. I am happy to be enrolled today."

"I am going though a lot of struggles in life ranging from food insecurity, lack of water etc. However, seeing my family members alive and healthy has brought joy in my life and I always thank God for every day."

"We lack clean water which we use for cooking, washing clothes and bathing, we buy a jerrican at 50ksh and in a day I need like 6 jerricans which cost me 300 KSH a day. I lack lighting at home and most days we have to cook early or do homework with children very early,so I find it a big challenge and I hope I can solve this challenge earlier."