"I was lying on my bed in deep pain because I was not feeling well. My sons, whom I depend on, did not have enough money to take me to the hospital, as I relied on traditional medicine and concoctions to make me feel better. While in my son broke the good news that I had received my first transfer. Although I was in much pain, I felt much joy in my heart because I knew the money would help me."

"This is why I spent KES 1,000 from the transfer to purchase the medicine. I used the remaining funds to assist my mother in providing food for the family. I had been waiting for the transfer to help secure my medicine because I had no other source of income. When I finally got it, I felt a weight lifted off my shoulders."

"I live with my grandfather who fully depends on me. He fell ill two weeks before I received my transfer. I work on manual jobs such as fetching water and building other people’s houses. At the time he fell ill, I did not have money to buy him medicine or take him to the hospital. I unsuccessfully looked for a job in the village, but my efforts proved futile. The scarcity of jobs caused by the harsh economy has contributed to the struggles that I am facing. Therefore, when I received my transfer, spent it all in seeking medication for my grandfather whose health condition was deteriorating. I am happy that his condition is improving and thanks to the transfer, he could get medication."

""If I receive this money from the GiveDirectly program I plan on investing in my business by building a Medicine store in my community and also renovate my house.""

"I am grateful that both the first and the second transfer from GiveDirectly enhanced the initiation and the completion of any project that had in place. After graduating from the collection with a certificate in Veterinary Medicine, I am looking forward to a new goal of venturing into a new business. I had been trying my best to start a project that will benefit not only me but also the immediate farmers. At the moment, I have an Agrovet in mind that will both offer veterinary services and other farm products to the community."

"Being illiterate, I did not realize I received the transfer until when my grandchild came to inform me that I had received the transfer. I was relaxing on my bed after taking my morning medicine since I was sick at that time. I felt relieved and happy when learned about the receipt of the aid since I was very sure that I will be able to get proper medical care."

"I have suffered from ulcers for 2 years now, but I have never received serious medication due to lack of money. This has affected my health status and I am always feeling weak. Since I am required to buy some medicine every month, this has been impossible something that has exposed my life to danger. I, therefore, consider financial instability as my greatest challenge."

"We spent most of our recent transfer on buying two oxen. We bought them at a total cost of KES 53000. We decided to buy them so that they could help in tilling our land in preparation for planting. During the planting season, we at times lack money to hire a tractor to come to plow for us our land and hence we end up planting late. My husband and I do not have stable sources of income. We depend on casual jobs of farming to earn a living. The money that we get paid, we usually use most of it in paying for merry-go-round group contributions. The lump-sum amount that we receive from the group when it is our turn to receive it usually helps us in buying food, that is, maize in large quantity. We can buy a bag that can sustain us for a while. We also usually use some in buying clothes for our child. With the remaining transfer amount, we spent it on buying deworming medicine for the oxen and salt for their consumption. We are thus grateful to GiveDirectly for the support."

""Since 2000, while weeding on the farm, dirt entered my left eye and affected it terribly! As it is, I can not see with my left eye. Five years ago, I started experiencing problem with my left eye. In the early parts of 2017, I was sent for a surgery on the eye. As a result, I can't see clearly on the one eye. The doctors told me that when the dirt entered my left eye, we used too much harsh medicines. Therefore, it had already been damaged so they couldn't do anything about it. It's been five whole years since I farmed. So, life is really difficult for me. My daughter had to travel from another country leaving her husband there in order to attend to me. Right now, the right eye has started hurting again. That's why I'm really praying that the cash transfer will be sent soon for me to my eye examined again.""

"Empowerment. My objective is to use this money to empower my children. I have 4 children who are still in school and one who finished a tailoring course a month ago. I hawk traditional medicine and toothbrushes to earn a living. This job earns me 6,000 KES a month. I entirely spend this income on food, leaving me with nothing to attend to the other needs of the family. With 20,000 KES, I am planning to open a tailoring business for the eldest child. I am hopeful the business will make her independent hence easing the burden of responsibility on me. For the rest of the children, I will buy 10 goats at a total cost of 25,000 KES. Goat production will help me raise their school fees because when financially pressed, I will be selling a few animals to settle the tuition fees."