"The biggest challenge that I currently face is food insecurity. This is because I do not have a land suitable for crop production. My land is on an area that is water logged most of the rainy seasons. As a result, anything that I grow usually fails, forcing me to buy every food item that we need. This means that I have to rely on menial jobs where I earn only about KES 100 a day. It is insufficient making it very difficult for me to provide for my household."

"My three-roomed timber walled house built years ago had its timber eaten up and its roof worn out. And for the past four years, I desired to renovate it but couldn't afford it. This is because I am s small-scale dairy farmer. And from the daily income after the sale of milk is usually spent on food and school fees payment. Therefore, when GiveDirectly transfers came, my priority was on renovating my house. I, therefore, topped up my first and second transfers. Of this, I spent KES 16,250 on the purchase of Iron sheets, 21,000 on three trailers of gravel, KES 14,000 on two trailers of pebbles, and KES 7000 on a trailer of hardcore concrete. After the renovation of the walls and the floor, my house is now totally transformed from timber walled to a semi-permanent house. Further, I spent KES 35, 000 on building my son a single-roomed semi-permanent house. This is because he is now a teenager almost completing high school. Therefore, I thought it wise to build him his own house because he didn't have one. Additionally, I spent KES 22,000 on 3000 liters water tank. This will help in the storage of clean rainwater. Lastly, I spent KES 10,000 on clearance of the last term's school fees arrears for my kids in high school."

"Upon withdrawing the second transfer, I first opted to buy some goats because livestock is a long-term investment because they procreate. Considering that, I bought six goats for KES 20000.00. I also bought a door for my house which I built using the first transfer. Thereafter, I had to buy some water not only for the family but also for the livestock because of the drought that affected our area. The cost of a 20 liters bucket of water was KES 100.00 and we were using an average of 8 buckets per day. Unfortunately, the goats could not withstand the prolonged drought and they died. Since it was dry everywhere I opted to save some amount for the family upkeep."

"We have been having plans of renovating our current house, to cement the floor and put timber on the walls instead of mud. It is a lot of work keeping the house tidy at the moment because it gets dusty often making it uncomfortable to live in. It also does not look very good as it is now, it makes me feel ashamed in front of my friends and visitors. We have not been able to achieve this due to insufficient funds. My husband who is the sole provider is a broker, a job that is not sustainable. We plan to use KES 30,000 for this. For the rest of the amount, we plan to purchase a water tank, to be collecting clean rainwater for domestic use. Getting clean drinking in our area is a real challenge. Most rivers are seasonal and dirty. This money will go a long way in improving our livelihood."

"When I receive this money I will plan KES 50,000 to buy a spacious house for my family. My monthly earning of KES 6,000 is not enough for me to build a better house for my family as well as buy them food. I am currently buying milk for consumption which is expensive for me. This leaves me with the alternative of buying a dairy cow with KES 35,000. We will be able to produce milk for domestic use and thus cut family costs. This will be a sign of relief for me and will bring happiness to my family. I will also consider buying a plastic water tank to enable us to harvest rainwater."

"I am passing alot of difficulties in life. I do not have food in my house, I have to burn charcoal in order to put food on the table. I get drinking water from a distance of 4 kilometres of which I have to cover that distance just to come back with a 20 litres jerrican of water. Living with all my six members of the family in the same cubical room is the greatest challenge I am facing in my life."

"Getting daily food is a problem in my house. There is no drinking water in my area, you have to travel for 4 kilometers to get fresh water."

"We are farmers depending heavily on farm produce for income. At the moment, we do not own a cow of our own, we are forced to purchase milk from the market which costs us up to KES 3,000 a month. It has been in our plan to purchase a cow but due to insufficient funds, we have not been able to. We, plan to use KES 40,000 to buy a cow mainly for milk production for domestic use. This will go long way towards reducing our daily expenditure which will be a relief for us financially. For the rest of the amount, we plan to purchase a water tank. It will help us collect clean rainwater for drinking."

"I have been on leave since I gave birth to my third born five months ago. This forced me to close down my hair dressing business so as to concentrate on raising and taking care of my children. I am excited because receiving this money will enable me to restart my business in order to give an helping hand to my husband. This will cost me KES 40,000 to rent out a shop and purchase stock earning profits that I can use to purchase a 5,000 litres storage tank for harvesting rain water."

"In my view and as per my age, I have been admiring to have my own water connection so that I can reduce the burden of getting water 5km away from here. In this regard, I intend to use half of my transfers to install tap water. This will help me even to earn something when I sell the water to my neighbors."