"The celebration mood in December brought me a lot of happiness. This is because we were together as a family and shared a decent meal during Christmas and new year's eve. We ate chicken meat and other rare foods. My spouse who works in town was around during that period."

"I once have a chicken rearing project. I lost everything when they were hit by birds flu. I had no capital to start another project but the coming of this cash program to our area has awakened my hopes of reviving my investments. I am now happy that I will be able to gain financial independence thanks to Givedirectly's unconditional cash aid."

"When I prepare my husband for work in the morning, I carry out some house chores, and then I have nothing to do all day long. Well, until my husband comes back from work. If I had poultry or livestock, I would be busy and not get bored. I can start by buying two chickens and keep growing my stock with every transfer."

"I was very happy during the Christmas holiday because I ate chicken and rice that I have not taken for a long time."

"After withdrawing my first transfer, I prioritized on obtaining a heifer at a cost of Ksh.30,000.I had been buying milk at a high cost for a long period. Though it hasn't started to produce milk, I am hopeful that it will soon calf and we will be able to enjoy surplus milk. I also purchased five chicken at a cost of Kshs.3,000.With the chicken, we can be able to sell eggs hence able to cater for some household bills. I also saved Kshs.10,000 for any future emergencies. With the remaining amount, I bought food stuff, and clothes for my household members."

"My husband is the only breadwinner in my family. We have seven children. Out of the seven children, six of them have enrolled in school. My husband’s work is selling local brew (palm wine) in the village. A bottle of the local brew goes for KSH 20. Daily sales from the sell of the palm wine amounts to KSH 300. The money is not enough to cater to our family's needs. The drought has also contributed to the decrease in the amount of palm wine from the coconut tree. Currently, our house is in a terrible state. The rains we received at the end of the year damaged a section of the house, ripping apart a wall off. During the night, the cold weather is affecting my children and is now becoming sickly. We covered the house with a make shift polythene paper but the situation has not improved. When I received the funds, I saved KSH 1500 so that I can use it to repair my house once I have accumulated enough money to complete the repairs. I also spent KSH 1000 to buy two chickens. The main reason for buying the chicken is to rear them and sell them later, giving me some generous amount of profit. In addition, I decide to buy some food with the remaining KSH 500 to add to the little stock remaining in the house. My husband had sold none of the palm wine the previous day, and buying the food was the best option to avoid running out."

"For the longest time in my life, I had a dream of owning a poultry project of my own. With the poultry project I will would become financially stable. When my husband died, I took care of the hard task of taking care of the children. Since then, I have worked on other people’s farms, burnt charcoal for sale and also fetched water for other people to earn a living. Another tragedy fell on me when my eldest daughter passed away and left her three children in my custody to care for them. I am paid KSH 1000 on working on a ¼ an acre farm weeding the crops. This may take up to seven days to complete the piece. With little I earn, I spend it on buying food and also paying school fees for my grandchildren. Due to all these struggles, I could not realize my dream of starting the poultry project. When I received my first transfer, I spent KSH 1000 to buy 4 chicken at KSH 250 each. I bought the chicken as a start to owning the poultry project I desired to have. Besides buying the chicken, I spent the remaining KSH 200 to pay exam fees for my two grandchildren."

"I am around one year old into marriage and I have a lot of settling to do. This money will go a long way in helping me. My plan with the first transfer is to buy three chicken at a cost of KES 1,200. I will be adding more and more as I receive this money so as to get myself an extra source of income."

"Since I dropped out of school 5 years ago, I have been struggling since I have no source of income. My plan is to start a poultry unit. I will use the first transfer of 3,000 KES to build a structure for the chicken. As the project expands, I know that I will at least get some income from the sale of eggs and the chicken."

"The only happy moments in these few past months was during Christmas and new year. I prepared chicken and rice for my children."