"We have challenges with inadequate housing and insufficient water supply. I most of the time wish that my children could have sufficient space to sleep and study but the house is too small. It doesn't also add up that we still sleep in the same house with grown up children but since we cannot afford a new house we just have to put up with the situation. During dry seasons water is a big problem here also. We usually have to walk several kilometers to fetch water which is time consuming and tedious. We are however thankful to God that there have been rains for the past 4 months."

"I work as a driver on the Ganze-Kilifi route. My daily wage averages at KES 300 a day. With little savings here and there, I managed to start constructing a house so that I can settle my wife and two children. The far I have managed to come, I only require KES 20,000 to finish. An additional KES 10,000 will enable us to uninstall piped water at home. This water will be for use at home and commercial purposes. What remains after that, I will take a motorbike on hire purchase so that I can be self-employed. That way, I will spend more time with my family."

"My goal is to complete the construction of my house. My house becomes uncomfortable for me during the rainy season because the roof of my house no longer holds the rain waters. I have really been wishing to have a new and decent house built but getting the money do it has been a challenge for me. With the opportunity given me by GiveDirectly by transferring this amount of money to me, my focus now is to complete the construction of my house."

"My goal is to have a house with zinc roof. The thatch roof can no longer hold the rain waters from leaking into the house when ever it rains. Things had been a little bit difficult for me before GiveDirectly came in with the cash transfer program. My focus now is to complete the construction of my house and have it fornitur"

"I was able to buy two bundles of zinc with my transfer. The roof of my house no longer holds the rain water from falling in the house. Besides, every rainy season I find it difficult getting thatch from bush to replace the old ones. I am grateful for this opportunity and I am going to make a maximum use of it."

"We used KES 25000 to buy a young heifer. This is an investment that we always had in mind as a family since it is one of the most convenient and easy to implement empowerment program in our village. We used another KES 12500 to buy water pipes for purposes of putting our farm under agriculture. We live along the river Bank and had earlier bought a generator with my savings that would help us practice irrigation and ensure we reap maximmly from our farm all year round. The remaining amount was used to buy food, clothes and facilitate Christmas celebration in our home. We had one of a kind cebration-a celebration we may not have had over a long period of time."

"Our new goal is to buy a plot of land and build rental houses. We want to do so because the area where we live is very dry and the crops do not usually do well. It is unproductive. Life is hence expensive since we have to buy most of the essential things such as food, water, firewood, etc. Other than buying the plot and constructing rental houses, we still have children in school and we have to struggle to get money for paying their school fees. We have a shop business. We usually borrow loans from a microfinance institution to pay school fees for our three children, two of who are in secondary school, and one who is in primary school. The money that we get from the shop business is what we usually use in repaying back the loan. We do not have the money to execute our new goal but if we manage to do so, the money that we will get from the rental houses will help us a lot with the children's school fees and meeting all our basic needs."

"I was fetching water for one of my customer. It was around 9 in the morning. Suddenly, I heard my phone ringing out loudly. Since I had not eaten breakfast, I ignored the phone and finished the job first before I looked. I carried the Jerrican of water and delivered them to the owner and got paid my dues. Immediately thereafter, I checked my phone and found out that I had received my transfer. I jumped up and down, thrilled, smiling from ear to ear. I quickly asked my son to go withdraw the money and buy something to eat for breakfast."

"I spent KSH 1000 from the transfer to buy stones to build my house well. My house is currently in a terrible state and is almost coming down. I did not complete building the pillars of the house on time due to lack of funds. The strong winds have destroyed the house to a point of making it fall over. I made and sold Makuti for sale and saved the money I got in Chamas and could gain some loans that helped me build the house. The business has since been bad and I do not make enough sales to feed myself and build the house. I also spent KSH 500 to pay school for my grandchild. Her deceased left me in charge to take care of him. To prevent him from being sent home, I paid the money to keep him in school. With the remaining amount of KSH 1500, I bought 6 packets of 2kg maize flour, 1kg of beans, 2kg of sugar and bread. I arrived at the decision to buy food in bulk because I earn little from the sale of the Makutis and this will be good to give me plenty of room to save money to purchase food. In addition, I bought some water for my use because I cannot go fetch water. I have a medical conditions that restrict me from doing manual jobs."

"Receiving money from GiveDirectly was of great help to me and my family. It came when I least expected and it helped a lot. The transfer helped me in paying school fees for my children. I am a mother of one girl, who is 15 years old and in class eight. Also a boy who is 20years old but still in class eight. I support my family through selling firewood, burning also selling charcoal. My husband sells water and does casual work in Mombasa to also support our family. Thank you so much. The transfer brought a lot of happiness and ease in my family, especially in paying school fees."