"My husband is a casual laborer. Together, we have six children. Every day he goes to different villages looking for any job, including farming, fetching water, assisting in any construction project, or any job that he can do with his hands. I am unemployed and my work revolves around our home, which is mainly cleaning, cooking, raising livestock, and taking care of the children. Finding a hands-on job is very hard and lately, it has been a struggle to make money from his earnings. When I received my funds, I used $25 to pay for my children’s school fees, and the rest $5 went to my medical treatment. I had an incident with one cow while I was on my normal routine of feeding the cows. I got hit by a bull and fell, breaking my arm. The funds came in at the right time because I had to be attended to immediately"

"When I received the first transfer, I was eager to invest the first portion of it in livestock, hoping to reduce my reliance on expensive milk purchases. It was unfortunate that after purchasing a cow, it became ill and had to sell it at a loss when it was severely malnourished. With my huge loss, I could not afford to spend the second transfer on a cow, so I bought two goats for $50 each. The two are simple to raise, and their milk will help my family until I can afford to buy a cow. I also spent $99 on my son's school fees as well as the necessary school equipment. Due to the current drought, I also had to purchase some food worth $80, pay $40 as part of a debt I owed at a nearby shop that has been giving us items on credit, and spend $25 on medication because I was feeling ill when I received the transfer. We formed an informal savings group with some village women, and we make deposits every two weeks. Because I have not been actively participating, I decided to put the remaining $50 into a savings account that I hope will help me buy an extra parcel of land for my two sons. I am grateful for the projects that I have been able to complete in a short period of time, and I hope to continue improving the ongoing projects."

"My husband works in Nairobi as a security guard, and I am a casual worker in the village. We are still trusting God for a child. Upon receiving my second transfer, my husband and I thought of a project that would be sustainable and reliable, therefore we ended up settling on dairy farming where we bought a dairy cow worth $500. This is because we wanted to commence selling milk and also use the remaining for our consumption. This was not possible before, due to financial constraints. I am relieved that I will no longer be buying milk daily, thus saving money and, more so, earning an income from it."

"It is almost like a lifestyle in our culture for someone to own a cow, but this was not the case for me because of the financial constraints. This is because I make pastries on a small scale to earn a living. I am married and together we have a child. When GiveDirectly promised us an unconditional transfer, I saw it as a perfect chance for us to improve our living standards. Therefore, I bought a dairy cow worth $300, with it I knew that I would no longer spend money daily on milk and also fulfil the cultural demands. Thereafter, I used the remaining amount on foodstuffs and clothes. I am so grateful and happy to have achieved so much within a short span."

"GiveDirectly does well in that it has enabled most people to build better and more spacious houses which were so hard to do before. I am so grateful too because I know own a cow. I do not find anything that GiveDirectly did not do well."

"After spending a portion of the first transfer on a heifer that I expect to calve in two months, I still added another one worth $260 when the second transfer arrived. I also spent $240 on five goats that I am rearing on our small parcel of land alongside my parents' livestock. Spending money on milk every day has put a strain on my finances, especially during off-seasons when everyone else is buying milk and I can not get a free cup from my parents' cows. I gear this massive investment in livestock toward a plentiful supply of milk from the cows and goat breeding with the intention of selling their offspring in the future to buy a piece of land. I am currently living in a small hut on my parents' property. I could not do much farming because every part of the land is under cultivation if it is not grazed by livestock. As a single mother of one, I am grateful that GiveDirectly helped me begin my journey to own a piece of land."

"I am a widow and a mother of four children. All of them are school-going. Since I do not have any formal job, I always make charcoal for sale to support my children. Since the income from this venture is low, I always struggle to pay fees for my children. When I confirmed my transfer, I spent $10 on paying school fees even though they had fee arrears of $15. I saved $15 with the hope of building up my saving with an intention of beginning to raise both goats and cows. They are valuable livestock that can be of help to my family in the future."

"I am fifty-five years old, I retired five years ago and I now stay at home raising livestock. I have nine cows, five goats, and twenty-three ducks. Animals have been a source of my livelihood since I was a young man. They give us meat, and milk and sell them whenever I need money. I used the recent transfer to buy two ducks for $15 and bought food for my family for $15."

"I plan on starting a dairy farming project and have at least three healthy dairy cows that can produce milk. To make this dream a reality, I plan to on using the profit from the Mpesa business in initiating the project. All in all I am grateful for the financial support that made it easy for us to accomplish our goals in real time."

"My new goal is to own assets in form of livestock more so goats and cows. I believe that once I will be able to own them, I will no longer be straining in fending for my family as I used to do. This is because I will be in a position to sell one or two and sort out any pending bills. Additionally, I trust that once I will acquire the livestock I can as well achieve some other goals through them such as starting a new business by selling some of them."