"When I withdrew the money, the priority was to finalize some payments for a plot which I had bought but there was a balance of KES 30000.00. Thereafter, I paid school fees for my children so that they could settle in school without being disturbed for school fees as well as buying some food for the family. Since it was a dry season, food and water were essentials in a household."

"When I received the money, the climatic condition was not conducive for me to go as per my plans as far as the transfer is concerned. Since I am raring some livestock and it was a dry season, I used the money in buying some hey and water for my cows so that they could stay alive since I depend on them in milk production which is a source of money when sold. I also bought some food for the family and also a medium size solar panel for my children so that it can provide them with some light at night as they conduct their studies."

"From the first transfer I received from GiveDirectly, I spent KES30000 on buying a lactating dairy cow. I had been hoping to add to the existing one. Since then I have been seeing a lot of improvement in our living standards as a household in that I can now save more and be at ease in paying school fees for my children and also in providing daily needs for my family of five. I also purchased a large water tank at KES 16000 that I am using in rainwater collection from the roof. I have been struggling a lot fetching water from the public reservoirs and the river that was not always safe for use in the household. With the water tank at my doorstep, I have saved a lot of time that I could have been spending ferrying water from the river. With the remaining amount, I obtained new clothes for my family members as everyone needed at least a pair that I was lucky to fix in the budget and made everyone smile at the end."

"I spent part of my first transfer on buying a second-hand motorbike at KES 35000. Thus has been my desire to own it but becasue of the financial difficulties that I was experiencing this was not achievable. I settled for it because it would not only be for business purposes but also, it will be of great help in transporting water from the dams which are far always from the villages. I have been using my own hand to carry the jerricans which were tiring and I am glad that I am relieved. I also paid school fees of KES 15000 for my two children who are in secondary schools. This is a motivation to them because they are no longer being sent home regularly as they used to do. With the remaining amount of money, I bought enough foodtuffs for my family that would sustain us for a couple of days."

"My husband has been ill for some years now, diagnosed with a leg problem that rendered him unable to walk. I had wished to seek proper and advanced medical care so that he may be well and embark on his work. After receiving my transfer, I spent KES 20,000 to take him to the hospital. In addition, I used KES 10,000 to support my child's education who is in college and had a huge fee balance. Furthermore, I spent KES 9000 to purchase a modern bed and mattress since I was using sacks and a traditional bed which was uncomfortable to sleep on. The remaining amount assisted me to purchase sufficient food and water for my family since we were experiencing drought and famine in our area."

"With seven kids under my care currently, it has been very hard to fully meet their needs in terms of food and school. I currently do not have a job and depend on my husband to provide for my family. My husband does not have a permanent job and depends mostly on short contract jobs. What he gets is utilized mostly on food and school and none is left to improve our lives by engaging in life-changing projects. When I received the first transfer I spent it on paying a school debt of KSH 500 and used the rest of the remaining amount of KSH 700 in buying food for my family. I spent the second transfer in buying a water storage tank. I spent KSH 1400 to buy the tank. The main reason I bought the tank was to help in storing water. Due to the drought situation that we were experiencing it was a real hustle to find water and the tank was a savior for me. In addition to buying the tank, I also bought food at KSH 600 and also paid some KSH 1000 in school as school fees. My kids had been sent home due to school fee balances and the money helped me in terms of that. With my third transfer, I spent KSH 2000 buying food and other things such as clothes for the festive season. I am grateful that the money was a great help to my family and we celebrated well during the festive season. I saved the remaining KSH 1000 in a Chama. I am looking forward to asking for a loan so that I can be able to use the money to start a new project of building my house well."

"I was able to buy food and water with the first transfer. We were facing drought hence the transfer really helped to alienate the situation. With the second transfer, I bought 5 hens each worth KES 100 each. My plan was to use these poultry for domestic consumption. The third transfer was spent on my 3-year-old child. I used part of it to pay for school fees for my child and as it was the festive season, I used the rest for the Christmas celebrations."

"I saved 3000 KES in my Mpesa account planning to add it to the coming transfers to purchase iron sheets for constructing a new house. The current house does not have a roof since it was blown off by the wind while part of the wall has fallen off. Whenever it rains I have to put containers all over the house and pour the water outside when they are full to prevent it from being flooded. I have not been able to construct a new house because I rely on subsistence farming and the produce can barely feed my family for half a year. I can not wait to construct a new house and finally have a peaceful sleep where I won't have to share a house with snakes and other insects. KES 1100 I spent on foodstuff, mostly dry ones for the family."

"During the previous transfers I received, I managed to pay tuition fee for my eldest daughter since she was in highschool and the teachers threatened not to give her the report card if the fees were not cleared so I decided to take care of it but did not pay for her younger siblings who were still in elementary. Therefore this time round when I received the money I paid KES 500 for the both of the which was KES 1,000 and finished the debt they had. As for what I was left with I decided to buy bricks so that I could finally renovate my house because I live in a mud house and during the rainy season I get a really hard time because the heavy rain melts the mud away and water begins to flow inside my house, leaving my children and I cold and uncomfortable. That is why I used KES 2,000 to buy bricks so that finally I could take care of the predicament once and for all."

"Receiving this cash transfer will transform my life because its going to give me opportunity to rebuild my life all over, first I plan to buy new beddings for my family, because at the moment we share one mattress together with my two sons in the single room and I can say there is no privacy. Water has been very scarce and sometimes we travel long distances like 3 kms to and from to buy few jerricans, and sometimes you just get one as they are costly, so I plan to buy a big water storage so that I can rest some days and do my other duties. I had a dream to own livestock and now I have a chance to buy 3 goats and 1 cow, these o can sell them whenever am in an medical emergency or if my sons will need for school fees."