"Currently the biggest challenge is living as a widow for the past 7 years, and not being able to provide for my children especially on their basic needs and also paying for their education, just the fear of them being chased away from school makes me have sleepless nights; this is because my dre is to see them complete their studies and get good jobs to help me live a good life. My house is also in poor condition, whenever it rains, those are my bad days because I have to spend my nights and days standing, as most parts or the house is letting water inside and am afraid that it might fall down, so I hope it's the right time to make such repairs."

"The biggest difference is that I am living a more stress free life. I now sleep for 8 hours like other people do and my family have clean drinking water because of the tank that we bought. We are so much grateful to GiveDirectly"

"I spent most of my second transfer money on buying a water tank and setting it up. I bought the tank at KES 25000 and I used KES 1000 on constructing the surface for placing the tank. I decided to buy the tank because I wanted to collect rainwater when the rainy season starts. This way we will no longer have to make long trips to the river to fetch water. I was not in a position to buy the water tank before even though I had always desired to have it. The money that I make from my businesses, most of it usually goes to the purchase of food and household goods such as soap, oil, etc. I have thus not been able to save up enough money to make such a development. I am hence so much thankful to GiveDirectly for the support, may God bless you."

"I had gone to fetch water at the borehole which is 10 kilometers away from our home. I had left my phone at home, upon reaching home at around 9 am, I received message alerts on my phone. My helper checked my phone and informed me that I had received my transfer. I was so excited for receiving the transfer which would transform our lives for the better. I immediately called my husband to notify him about the receipt, He was very happy and informed us that he would travel back home for us to make the arrangements of withdrawing the aid."

"For more than a year, this area had not received even a single drop of rainfall. This caused serious drought. It was very hot. Cows were the most affected. They died due to a lack of water and pasture. We received heavy rains over the festive season ( December 2021). I was very happy. The weather became conducive and water for consumption was readily available for the livestock."

"Having not received rain for a while, there was a major issue with water in our home. I therefore on receiving the 3rd transfer of KES 3000, spent KES 500 on purchasing water gallons to sustain us. The remainder of the amount which was KES 2500, I used to purchase food products for the Christmas and New year holiday."

"I spent KES 35000 of my transfer on a two roomed 24 Iron-roofed house because I used to live in a tiny room with four Ironsheets and had leaking roofs. I spent KES10000 on beddings and clothing. I also spent KES10000 on payment of school fees for my son in high school. I normally rely on beans farming to pay school fees. I spent KES5000 on a goat for milk because I don't have a dairy cow. I spent KES 1500 on water container and KES 3000 on a sack of maize.We normally rely on charcoal burning in order to feed my family."

"Receiving this money means a better and spacious house for my family of 8. I live in a one- roomed grass thatched house which acts as the kitchen, living and sleeping area. It is very uncomfortable sleeping in the same room with my grown up children and also they have no enough space to do their evening studies or homework. This forces them to go to their cousins place when they need to study and I find it shameful. I plan on building a three- roomed iron roofed house with KES 30,000. My children will then sleep and study without straining also I will be fetching rain water saving me the agony of using unclean water from the river."

"Receiving this money means self reliance. I am 75 years old and my husband is 87 years old, at this old age we can no longer go to work nor do strenious work. I live in a semi-arid area and I go 2 kilometers away to fetch water from the river for domestic use and at the same time for livestock to drink. During the dry season ,the river dries up forcing us to walk another 3 kilometers or buy water from vendor which is expensive. I am happy because from the transfers I will buy 5,000 litres water storage tank with KES 25,000 .This will enable me harvest enough clean rain water during the rainy season to use during the dry season."

"I am a very happy person to receive this money. I want to use this money to buy a water pump. I want a water pump so that I can use it for farming and earn more money so that I can support my family. It will also benefit my children because they will be able to use the same pump in future."