"I have never had joy for the past 6 months in my house. My elder son fell sick and spent all the money I had, I had to sell my 2 goats to cater for his medications. He had a stomach problems which persisted for 3 months and later was discovered suffering from typhoid which was caused by the unclean water we use for drinking."

"I was on my way to fetch water that morning when I received the message that the money had arrived. I was overjoyed because I had lots of things on my mind especially financial stress because my children could not continue to attend class and yet I had absolutely no money to aid the situation. Therefore when the money came in I was completely over the moon."

"I spent part of my second transfer on buying three goats at a total of KES 9000. It has been my dream to own them for years but I couldn't afford them since they were relatively expensive. Also, I purchased a new mattress at KES 1100 which was to replace the old clothes that I have been using as beddings. I could always wake up in so much pain with lots of fatigue. I am happy that for now I no longer complain of the discomforts. To add to that, I bought a water tank of 140litters at KES 1200. I can now comfortably harvest and store water for my domestic usage. With the remaining amount of money, I am using it to buy foodstuffs for my family which is comprised of four members."

"This area is largely dry and getting safe water for household use is the biggest challenge that I face. The nearest water pan is 5-kilometers away and carrying a 20-liter jerrican of water on your back is not easy. Take note that I make 4-5 trips because ones would not be sufficient. I have developed chest pains as a result of doing this over and over. Sadly I have to continue because I have no option since I cannot afford to hire a motorbike to ferry it for me."

"Four seasons have passed without us harvesting anything from our farms. First came COVID-19 crippled our livelihood then drought. Life seems to be getting harder. This being a forest food is scarce. Previously we would rely on farm produce, maize, and cassava but now nothing is available. Our rivers are drying out and the little water left is for domestic use and our livestock. The eight children I have to feed daily caused me to have sleepless nights, just worrying of where our next meal will come from."

"I am a single mother of 4 school-going children. I fend for them alone which is a tall order since I depend on casual jobs of fetching and carrying water for use in the hotels in the nearby Chebunyo market. I get paid KES 20 per 20-liter container. On a good day, I get up to KES 200 which I used to buy household items and foodstuff but other days I do not get these jobs, especially during raining season. Life has not been easy, I have lived a life of hopelessness and destitution. All along I have desired to buy a dairy cow but due to lack of finance, it has not been possible. Receiving this money will put a smile on my face, I intend to buy a dairy cow worth KES 40000. This will boost me a lot in terms of being food sufficient as I will get milk and sell the surplus to get disposable income. I will use the rest of the money to buy school uniforms for my children."

"We have been experiencing drought for a long time that resulted in the deaths of our livestock and scarcity of food and water but towards the end of last year, we started having rains which brought back life. We planted vegetables that pushed us for a while and also the sources of water were filled up which we currently use to date. This brought joy and happiness to my life because at least now I still do not have to walk for a long distance to fetch water as before."

"In my village, water is a problem. So, we walk far to fetch water and to do so we use a donkey to aid with transportation. Per trip, I will be able to bring home two 20litre jerricans of water and it will take about 50min. When I was on my way to fetch water, I got the message that I had received some funds from give directly. I felt happy. I went to fetch water as I planned then I headed home to plan on how to use the funds. Two days later, I concluded that I will invest some money in my business and buy food with the rest."

"In my opinion, Give Directly has brought good news to every household in our village. We are so grateful to God and Give Directly for changing our helpless situations which we have been through for a long period. Give directly has at least uplifted us from buying sheep, construction of new iron-roofed houses, buying dairy cows, purchasing tanks for storage of water, and many others. Give directly made us realize our dreams."

"We spent most of the second transfer on buying a water tank and the materials for building a sleeping house for our boys. We bought a 5000-liter tank, 22 iron sheets, and we cut down some of the trees to get timber and building poles. The remaining amount of money, we used in buying food. We decided to buy the water tank because we usually experience a dry season in our area for a long period, that is, five to six months. As a result, we usually buy water where six containers go for KES 200. This is hence costly. We had built a house for our boys before but the house is small and not enough to accommodate a guest visiting. We decided to make plans to construct another more spacious one. We were not able to do the above before because we did not have the money. We are so grateful to GiveDirectly because, with the water tank that we bought, we have been able to collect rainwater for our household use. We hence no longer incur the cost of buying water like before."