"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."

"Single motherhood comes with a lot of emotional baggage. It's bad enough to know that come hail or high water, your children must be fed and attend school. All that is dependent on what I make daily as income. I have to think fast about how I can raise funds. That's what keeps me up at night. Money!"

"Prolonged drought is the mother of all these challenges that I am facing. I am in a polygamous setup and I have to take family responsibly for my three kids since my husband is now old and unproductive. Before the drought, I used to sell firewood to earn living, ever since the drought started, the demand for firewood went down since many people who used to cook three meals a day now cook one or two meals. Previously, I used to sell 10 bundles a day where one was going for Ksh 100 nowadays, the price and demand has gone down and I can only sell three bundles on a good day with one going for Ksh 30. With this amount, I can't afford to buy food, water and pay for school fees. It's been a struggle to get at least one meal a day, yesterday we slept hungrily and I'm yet to know what I will give my kids in the evening. Receiving this money means I will be able to cater to the basic needs of my family."

"Despite all the challenges we are going through from lack of food to water shortage, all my children are still holding strong and have not given up."

""As a family, the first thing we would do with GiveDirectly Cash Transfer would be enrolling all our children into school because as it is now, only four of our children are enrolled into school. Secondly, we would buils a new house because the location of our present house is has become uncomfortable for us due to the erosion. When rain falls heavily the entire house can be surrounded by water and that makes it unsafe and even unhealthy for us to continually still. And, if there's still money, we would invest in our cocoa plantation which we've just ventured into the middle part of this year.""

"I plan that when I received this money from give directly, I want to rebuild my house so that my house can be in a good condition. I want to buy generator to start my business by charging phones, selling water in this town. I plan to save some of the money to pay the person who will build my house."