"I received a message in my phone at around 7am when I had just arrived home from fetching some water. Since I do not know how to read, I requested my husband who was just a stone-throw away from me. Without hesitation, he broke the news plainly and directly due to overwhelming. “Hurrah, finally the GiveDirectly transfer id here with us”, he said. I jumped up and down in appreciation knowing that, I was going to solve the issues that have been bothering my family for a long time now."

"As a teacher who is employed by the school's Board of Directors, I only earn KES 8,000 a month. Sadly, this amount is not enough to cater for my family's living expenses, including food, shelter and clothing. This has led to the accumulation of debts. So I spent KES 15,000 to settle some of these. Since I live in an area that is prone to drought, I also spent KES 15,000 on buying a water tank so we can harvest some water. I then spent KES 20,000 on buying a heifer and KES 3,000 on foodstuff so we could have enough for ourselves."

"I spent part of my first transfer on buying a second-hand bicycle at KES 5000 which has been of great help to me because nowadays I no longer hire those of my friends when fetching water. The dams are far away from the village which has been so tiring carrying a jerrycan every day. To add to that, I also bought a high-density mattress at KES 5000 which was to replace the old mats that I have been using before. Later on, I settled a debt of KES 18500 and I am glad for now I have peace of mind because the owner has never been patient enough. With the remaining amount of money, I am using it to buy enough foodstuffs for the family and other household expenses"

"Yes, the transfer has made a big difference in my life. I didn’t have any food at the time before receiving the transfer leave alone water. Everything was a dead-end for me. When I received the transfer it helped me a lot and I am grateful that I have food to eat now."

"I'm normally very happy everyday when I'm done fetching water at around noon. This is because I always have to wake up at 4:00am to be able to go for about 10km to the water source twice before noon. I'm normally exhausted when I'm done and so it feels really good when I finally get to relax."

"Since the onset of this draught, I do not get as many building contracts as I used to and the situation keeps worsening which is worrying me a lot. As a mason I depend solely on such to be able to earn but seemingly people are not interested in building houses at the moment probably because of water problems. Even when I try looking for some, I only get future promises."

"Seeing my family happy and alive despite the challenges in life and waking up to chat together, and assisting each other get water from far places and working closely looking after our goats while out grazing gives me hope that someday we will share all the nice moments we have always wished together."

"My concern has been the famine we are experiencing currently. We have to walk for long distances to access water and the scorching sun does not make things easier. A jerry can of water is 10 KES and with a large family as mine, at least six Jerry cans are enough a day. It is cheaper for us to fetch the water ourselves than hire a motorcycle rider who will charge 300 KES for the six jerry cans and still ask for 200 KES for transportation. Food has also been a rare commodity, especially vegetables. Silver cyprinid (omena) is now our daily meal. I had high hopes that it would rain and we would be able to plant and get some harvest but I am still waiting."

"Getting food and water has been my greatest challenge because of the prolonged drought. I walk for 6 hours to and fro to fetch water, at my old age doing this every day is not easy and sometimes I end up taking the whole day for one trip. I get tired and have backache in the evening because of the long distance."

"Receiving this money means a decent and spacious house for my family of eight. We currently reside in a miserable one-bedroom house covered by a grass-thatched roof. During the rainy seasons, water pours in the house such that we are forced to seek some sleeping space from neighbours. Moreover, sleeping under the same roof with my first-born daughter who is 15 years old has denied me the desired privacy. I am planning to use 40,000KES to build a two-bedroom semi-permanent house. My children will sleep in one room as I share the other room with my wife. I will use a further 30,000KES to buy 10 goats each valued at 3,000KES for domestic rearing. I will later sell the goats to educate my children."