"The past Christmas was a good one. I prepared rice and chicken- food which is eaten seasonally in my house. This brought joy and happiness in my house because my family celebrated the Christmas. We enjoyed rice with chicken and it is on this day when my children got new clothes too"

"During the new year celebration I ate chicken, rice, and chips- This brought joy and happiness to me because I had finished 2 years without eating these foods."

"Depending on someone else to give you money for upkeep is always traumatizing and shameful. Since my husband is the breadwinner of my family of 5, I have fully depended on him from the time I got married in April 2017. Albeit, there are times when he does not have the money upon request and I feel like a burden to him. This has in most circumstances frustrated me and I have always felt the need to rear chicken to support him but unfortunately, acquiring capital has been a challenge."

"I am 82 years old and my economic activeness is slowly degrading. I now get involved in less intensive tasks like small-scale poultry farming. I depend on selling eggs from my chicken to fend for my granddaughter and my 85-year-old husband. I usually get around KES 100 per day which is inadequate to comfortably sustain us. Receiving this money means that I will expand my poultry farming and hire a casual laborer to assist me in doing the related tasks. I will set aside KES 40000 to do this and spend the remaining amount on house repair and buying food for my family."

"December was my best and most rememberable month. It is during this festive season I was able to have a taste of chicken meat after so many months. The joy of uniting with most of my grandchildren added more flavour to my joy during that period."

"The transfer brought a very big difference in our lives as a family. We were able to clear the school fee balances for our three children who are in secondary school. We were hence able to have some peace of mind because we were no longer worried about where to get the money to do so. The children were hence able to study well without being sent home all through the second term of the year. With having cleared the school fee, I was able to save up some of the money from the vegetable vending business and I bought a few chickens. I was also able to save up some money in the self-help groups that I have joined. I plan to use the money that I will get from the merry-go-round contributions on buying a goat. This goat is going to be of great help to us in future since I can sell some of its offsprings and use the money on paying school fees for the children."

"I spent KES 30000 digging a borehole after receiving my transfer. Before receiving it, I had planned to build a more decent house but decided otherwise since I considered having clean water at all times a necessity. I am glad that I no longer have to walk for a long-distance going to fetch water from my neighbor's well as it was so tiresome. Also, I spent around KES 10000 building a feeding area for my chicken since I want to venture into poultry farming and also bought enough foodstuffs and clothes using the remaining amount."

"In my opinion, Give Directly is doing a great job by giving people unconditional money which is a life saver. I have already used some of my transfers to purchase goats and chicken for rearing. They are good source of income especially after they have reproduced. I am guaranteed of improved life with both the income I will earn from them in the future and the coming transfers too."

"Food insecurity because of persistent droughts in my location is the biggest challenge that I currently face. Poor crop performance has deprived us of enough food that we used to get from the farm. We now have to be buying all of them . The income, from selling eggs and chicken or sheep is our only way of survival. When I get my transfers and strengthen this sources of income, I will have enough for my family."

"Receiving this money means that I will complete the house that I alread started building. It is a kitchen house which is very important,but I am forced to currently use a temporary shelter made of a few iron sheets and canvass materials. I will spend about KES 40,000 to complete the kitchen. I will then put up a poultry house at KES 10,000 and to buy chicken at KES 20,000. This project will be a constant source of income. It will save me a lot, given that I do not have a job at the moment, making it difficult to provide for my family. I will also buy a dairy cow to make additional income from selling milk."