"This area is known to be dry with no or little rainfall. In the last one month, we have witnessed a heavy downpour and this has eased my struggle of looking for water and I am happy about it"

"I was born and bred in Konoin Sub-county a place synonymous with heavy rains throughout the years. I got married in Chepalungu and this place is the opposite of where I grew up. The biggest challenge that I face is lack of water for household use and this is occasioned by prolonged droughts that see rivers dry up. The distance to the nearest water pan 3kilometer away and that means I cannot make to carry water on my back through that distance. I hire a motorbike to ferry it and I pay KES 20 for every 20-liter jerry can delivered home. In a day I spend KES 200 which would have been put on other productive activities. I do not know for how long we will suffer like this because of water shortage"

"Unfortunately four days before receiving the money my children were kicked out of school because I had a huge debt in tuition fee that I was yet to clear. So when I received the money I went ahead and I paid the school administration KES 1,000 so that my kids would be allowed back to the premises and so that they no longer had to miss out. I was left with KES 2,000 and with it I bought a bag of maize flour that had twelve packets and it was sold to me for KES 1,300 and as for what was left I went on to buy sugar, sardines and drinking water because it was scarce in my area and I had to get it from a different town."

"I plan to do agriculture work on my farm, I plan to buy water machine for my farm and I also plan to buy fertliizer for my farm."

"It was in the evening and I was from fetching water when I received the text message confirming that I had received the money from GiveDirectly. I was so happy when I got the money because I had received the 55000 that I had been promised which enabled me to get the things that I had desired for so long to have, especially livestock, bed and mattress, as well as improving my house. I could not afford to have these addressed because I had no job and used to basically stay at home, therefore, I was very happy when I received this assistance since I had nothing to depend on to address the challenges I was facing."

"It was 6.45pm in the evening and I was on my way home from work when I received the text message confirming that I had received the money from GiveDirectly. I was so grateful when I got the money because I knew that my dreams would be fulfilled especially in purchasing the land that was in a place with access to the facilities I have always desired to be close to. These facilities include, water, shops, good and accessible road as well as electricity. I wanted to get this land because I have been living in a far remote area which is hardly accessible even by a motorcycle and I had no ability since my job as a gardener in a private farm earns me a very little income which mostly caters for my family's daily immediate needs and pay for my children's school fees. Therefore, I was so grateful when I received this money from GiveDirectly because it brought my dreams to life."

"I want to say a big thank you to Givedirectly family for the assistance given to me during the four months period. Today I owned water machine because of Givedirect assistance"

"Since the death of my husband ten years ago. I decided to venture into indigenous vegetable farming. This has helped me in school fees payment over the years because I normally supply the vegetables to school as a substitute for school fees for my kids. At the time when GiveDirectly transfers came, I had built my house but had stalled due to school fees burdens. Therefore I used KES spent KES 20,000 on the completion of my house Iron roofed house. Of this, KES 10,000 was used on of purchase of trees, and KES 10,000 on the purchase of Ironsheets. Secondly, my daughter had been in and out of school due to school fees arrears. Therefore, I spent KES 15,000 on payment of school fees arrears for my daughter. Thirdly, I spent KES 3200 on a bag of maize. This is because initially, during dry spells, I normally rely on rope weaving to get food for my family. In addition, I spent KES 3500 on a 320 liters water drum. This will help in the storage of clean rainwater. Furthermore, I spent KES 3500 on a sofa set seater. Initially, I used to have only one unstable bench. Last but not least, I spent KES 3,000 on a bed, KES 2,500, and KES 1,700 on two blankets. This had made me sleep more comfortably and can't be happier."

"I am a mother of 3 and a professional pot maker for the past 20 years. On open-air market days, I can get to KES 600 from the sale of 10 pots. This is I use part for food and household consumption and the rest I invest in village savings groups. I also do small-scale maize and beans farming partly for food and partly for school fees payment. My priority when I received the transfers was to buy a heifer. I, therefore, bought one at KES 30,000. This is because earlier on, I had many dairy cows but they died due to an outbreak of cattle disease. Since I have one dairy cow now, once the heifer reproduces, it will increase the amount of milk I supply to the nearby school as an alternative source of school fees for my kids. Secondly, KES 17,000 was used in the payment of fees for my daughter in college. I also spent KES 5,000 on the settlement of arrears for my daughter and sons in high school. This is because were in and out of school all the time and it was painful because at home again there was food scarcity. Last but not least, I bought a wheelbarrow and a spade at KES 4,500. This will help in extracting mud and dirt easily from the nearby river to get clean water both for household and livestock consumption. The remainder, KES 1500 I used on the purchase of clothing for my kids."

"The biggest difference in my daily life is the purchase of a water tank. This has helped me store clean rainwater fit for both household consumption and domestic use. I am grateful because I no longer struggle to get drinking water."