"My house is not good. I have been sick for so long such that I failed to build a nice house for myself. I am planning to demolish this house so that I can build a new house. My house has been full of hungry bellies and I have bought some bags of maize for food processing. I have also bought kitchen utensils such as spoons, plates and pots. I also intend to buy beddings such as blankets and mattresses with the remaining amount of money." (Occupation: Motorcycle or bicycle taxi)

"I remember vividly like yesterday that it was around 9.30 am when I heard a ringtone message from my phone. I didn't expect any Mpesa message as I thought that it was Safaricom promotional SMS. When I realized that it was a message confirming that I had received money from GiveDirectly, I felt so happy. I immediately informed my family members and they were so overwhelmed with joy. I knew that I would finally be able to take my motorcycle for servicing." (Occupation: Motorcycle or bicycle taxi)

"I was at home relaxing before going to work when I received a message notification on my phone. I decided to read it and know if it was containing an urgent message and upon reading it, I became so happy as it was a Mpesa message from GiveDirectly. Having such an amount of money made me know that my life would soon change as we had been informed that we were free to spend the money on our most pressing needs and that was what I was intending to do with mine." (Occupation: Motorcycle or bicycle taxi)

"I have been unemployed for the last five years and I have been struggling to make ends meet. I started a motorcycle spare shop in the year 2014 in the nearby town which didn't make it beyond 2017 due to the low number of buyers. I am currently employed as a casual laborer within the village working on other villagers' farms by digging, fencing, and or weeding earning an estimated wage of KES 300 a day. The job itself is unreliable and I seldom get one and my wish is to get capital to start and run a business. I intend to spend KES 40,000 of the transfer to start and run poultry farming as a business and thus materializing my dream. Therefore, receiving this money means an improved living standard."

"I spent KES 30,000 to purchase a dairy cow.I used to buy milk daily and this was so costly for me because I do not have a continuous source of income. I depend on casual jobs in the village. I bought a motorcycle on hire purchase, I deposited KES 15,000 and the rest I will pay on installment. I am so happy because this project generate an income daily. The rest of the money I bought food and clothes for my children. I am so happy because GiveDirectly has changed our living standard."

"There is a piece of land that I want to buy but because I do not have enough money, I am not able to do. With the first transfer, I will buy two points of an acre with KES 50,000. We have decided with my wife that we will buy a second hand motorcycle for our inconvenience while going to work and also a source of income for our family."

"I am a motorcycle operator. That is the daily work that I engaged myself in. My happiest part of the day is the evening especially when I have closed my business and realized some income that will enable me to buy food for my family." (Occupation: Motorcycle or bicycle taxi)

"I have one cow. That cow produce two litres per day. The milk i get from this cow is only enough for household use. So when I get this money I would like to buy a dairy cow specifically Asian breed since this breed can produce over 5 litres of milk per day. This will be a good source of income to my family. At the moment I depend on my husband who does motorcycle taxi but he only gets 200 KES per day of which its not sufficient to sustain all our needs. A good dairy cow will cost around KES 30000. Lack of money has really made us not to buy another cow since the death of our other cow." (Occupation: Motorcycle or bicycle taxi)

"I was feeding my neighbors livestock when he came and informed me that Give Directly had sent the promised money. I quickly rushed back home since I had left my phone behind, powered it on and after confirming that I had also received mine, I called my brother who works in the nearby town who promised to accompany me to go and purchase a motorcycle as I had planned. Receiving this money meant that my life would never remain the same again and this made me so happy."

"December has been planting season in my region and our crops are mostly affected by diseases and invested by warms. Due to this, the proceeds are usually less and cannot last my family for more than six months. I had an aim of planting early this year so that my crops would not get affected so much but finances had been my major challenge. When I realized that GiveDirectly had sent the promised aid, my heart was filled with happiness since this money gave me hope that I would finally achieve my goal on time and I shared the good news with my spouse without any hesitation and she immediately began singing praises to GiveDirectly." (Occupation: Motorcycle or bicycle taxi)