"After I received the recent funds from GiveDirectly I decided that I should purchase some clothes for myself since I barely had enough and the ones that I had were mostly old, torn and worn out. I could barely even leave home since I had nothing presentable to wear. Soon after confirming that I had received the money I used KES 1,100 in buying something to wear. I was left with a balance of KES 2,900 where I used KES 1,000 to buy two hens since I wanted to venture in poultry farming because it was manageable and I could benefit both domestically and commercially in the future. After that I took remaining balance and used KES 500 to buy maize flour, KES 200 to buy drinking water since it was scarce and KES 200 to buy millet flour for porridge."

"Back in the village a group of some of us decided to form a savings committee where we contributed money and delivered it to individual people at intervals per month. The whole purpose for this was so that once it became someone's turn to receive the money it would be a significant amount and they could indulge or use it in any project they preferred. So when I received the money I went ahead and contributed KES 2,000 to the savings committee and hopefully when my turn comes to eventually receive the money I will get KES 15,000 which I plan on using to help renovate my house since it very old and in a poor state and I am scared that it might collapse. Lastly I was left with KES 1,000 which I used to buy eight packets of maize flour and six gallons of water for KES 260 since drinking water was scarce."

"The fact that it is heavily raining in this area makes me happy. It rarely rains and this always force us to cover a distance of 2kilometers looking for water."

"I gave birth recently and am a stay at home mother, and my dream was to start a business that will serve as source of income. Upon receiving the first transfer of 55,000 KSH I plan to start a grocery where I will be selling fruits and vegetables. I intend to take advantage of the wide market and demand that is around, we have to wait for market day in order to buy vegetables and we go long distances. I will use the whole transfer to pump water from nearby river nzovuni and plant all crops so I can have a full time supply."

"Since the beginning of the drought getting clean water and food has been challenging. I struggle to feed my children by doing odd jobs but this is still not enough because aside from food expenses there is also water to be bought. Life is becoming more and more expensive every day. It is frustrating that there is nothing that I can do to change the situation because aside from the drought contributing to this there is also the poor economy that has made food commodities rise."

"The drought has come with many challenges. Getting food and water nowadays is very expensive because I have to buy unlike before when I could get them from the farm and stream respectively. Lack of finance made me resort to taking a meal per day to have something for the next day. My young children do not understand why this is happening and sometimes they cry a lot due to hunger. Seeing them like this is disheartening because there is little that I can do to change the situation."

"The house I am currently living in is in a poor state. It is bending towards the ground, hence making it unsafe for my family to live in. My husband sells palm wine in the village. His earnings are very little because of the little palm wine he harvests from the coconut trees. The ongoing drought has partly affected the harvest in our area. I earn a living through the sale of firewood and currently there are no trees or bushes to fetch firewood from because of the drought. With our house almost falling down, I used the money from my transfer to buy poles and build a new and spacious house that will accommodate the eight members of my family. Because of the poor financial state we are in together with my husband, I bought food in bulk. I bought six packets of maize flour, 2kg of sugar, tea leaves, 2 kg of beans, 2 kg of rice and two jerricans of fresh water for home use. Water is hard to find and we have to buy it from water vendors at very high prices of KSH 50 per 20 liter jerricans."

"With the scorching sun, I walk a distance of more than ten kilometers a day in search of water. I can only afford one or two Jerry cans. At the end of the day, I feel so tired. I barely have the energy to cook or clean. I am hoping against all odds that this situation changes. Some rain would help us but sadly, we have no control over this."

"I used KES 17000 of my second transfer to buy a water tank for family use. My wife had had to travel for long distances in search of clean and safe drinking water and this prompted me to make this purchase. I channelled another KES 5000 to improve our shop keeping business where we sell basic household commodities. We saved another KES 30000 in preparation to purchasing a motorcycle. The motorcycle shall not only help me in making some income for my family but shall also make me self employed and I will give an opportunity to my wife to run the shop fully."

"That day, I was headed to fetch water in a nearby river around 4 pm. That's when I received a message alert on my phone but couldn't tell what it was because I am illiterate. On my return home, I gave my phone to my helper who confirmed that I had received KES 55,000. I was excited for the better part of that evening."