"Drought has brought a lot of challenges in our lives. I used to be a subsistence farmer and then worrying about food was not an issue because it was available on the farm. Every plant is dry in our area except for the drought-prone plants but the unfortunate thing is that they are not edible. Aside from us worrying about getting food, our animals are also dying of hunger and water shortages. Our village is in dire need of food and water aid, I am afraid soon people will start dying too."

"I came back home from a failed marriage. I am a single mother of six children, four of whom are in school. I live with my mother in a one-room house. We are so squeezed in there and sleeping arrangements uncomfortable. Unused to sell chapati for a living. I had to stop because we don't have enough water to run the business. With these funds, I can at least afford to pay a motorbike rider to fetch water and deliver it to me. I will reopen my business but this time, I'll make it an eatery. The money I'll make will help me pay school fees for my children and help my mother build a bigger house."

"I take care of my aging mother, plus my expecting wife, and our two children. The responsibility is overwhelming, especially with the current drought. Water and food have become rare commodities in my village. For water we have to walk 12km away from my village, prices of food, on the other hand, have also hiked up."

"Whenever my son sends money home is always a joy, at least I am assured that on that specific day I will not have to wake up early in the morning to go fetch water."

"Drought has hit my village hard to an extent getting water is difficult. A 20 Litre jerrican of water goes for 50KES. In a day, my family plus livestock consume 120 litres of water meaning I spend 300KES daily on water. Given that I am jobless, affording this on a daily basis is close to impossible and sometimes we retire to bed without taking shower."

"Seeing my children home because of lack of school fees breaks my heart. As we speak, all my children are home because I have been unable to pay their school fees on time. The drought currently encountered in my area has made it difficult to meet all the family needs given that I am forced to weigh between food, water and school fees. I am planning to use 50,000KES from the GiveDirectly transfers to pay school fees for my children. This will ensure that my children have ample study time in schools and definitely their academic performances will improve. I will use a further 30,000KES to buy goats for domestic rearing. When my children join secondary school, I will sell the goats at a profit and take my children to boarding secondary schools."

"Scarcity of water and the inability to provide for my children is the biggest challenges that I'm facing currently. With the chest pains, I can not manage to carry a jerrican of water. My children are young and therefore can manage to walk 30 kilometers to fetch water. At this point, I'm left with no option rather than buying water where a 20litres jerrican goes for Ksh 50. This serves us for four days as we only use it for cooking and drinking. We have not been able to bath or wash cloths for the last one month."

"The promise I had made to the GiveDirectly staff that came was that I wanted to gave livestock at my home. My aim was to get some cows but looking at how the weather was, I opted for some goats. I bought 6 goats which I am sure they will multiply as soon as possible. I also bought a small solar panel to provide us with some light at night. I did this because the paraffin price is very high and the paraffin itself has become very scarce something that made us to stay I darkness in some days. In collaboration with a family member who is also a GiveDirectly beneficiary, we bought a motorbike to aid us in fetching some water as well as doing some light transport to earn us something by the end of the day. For the remaining amount I bought some foodstuff and also saved some for family emergencies."

"After withdrawing the money, I opted to get some livestock as a long-term investment. But before committing the money to the livestock I first paid the debts from the shops where I used to take some items. Thereafter, I bought some goats and a ploughing jembe which will aid me in weeding during the rainy season. The remaining amount, I decided to keep it for the family upkeep because the hunger that is in our area plus the water hardship is becoming abnormal. Everything needs money."

"Nowadays, all we care about is getting water to cook and drink, we don't care if we bathe or wash our clothes. The nearest water point is about 30 kilometers away and since it is only my daughter who can get there, she manages to bring a 20litrs jerrican. Water scarcity has been the biggest challenge for us."