"Taking care of a family of 11 is not easy especially when you don't have a stable job. For the longest time, I have been working as a casual laborer on construction sites to provide for my family. Previously, I never used to struggle as I do nowadays because jobs were not scarce as they are now. I would earn Ksh800 a day and I would divide the amount for some to cater to basic needs and pay school fees with the balance. The prolonged drought has made it difficult for people to build houses due to water scarcity. Life has become tough on my side because I can even go for a whole month without a job, this has led me to sell almost all the livestock that I had. This got me thinking if I had a business, life would not be the same as it is. With this money, I'm planning to save ish 2000 for the first five months to open a local green grocery store."

"Accessing clean water in our area is the main challenge that I am currently facing in my life. This is because we depend on water pans which of now have dried up. To get 20 liters, I am forced to walk a distance of 7 kilometers where I also have to queue for about 2 hours before my 1 jerrycan gets filled."

"Lately, there's hasn't been anything to be joyful about. Every day, life is a constant reminder of the basic things we should have but we don't. If we're not battling our children being sent home for arrears, we're battling lack of food or something else like walking long distances to fetch water that's not clean, to begin with."

"There's a severe water shortage. This drought needs to end. We have to walk long distances in search of water. I am eight months pregnant and these trips are no longer friendly to my health."

"I spent most of the money that I got from GiveDirectly on building another house for my family. It has always been my dream to build one but was not in a position to due to a lack of large sum of money that is needed for construction. I wanted to build another because the one that we have been living in was grass-thatched and it had grown old. When rains pour, water usually seeps in through the walls. I do not have a stable job and I depend on casual jobs to earn a living. I get paid around KES 300 per day. Out of this KES 300, I use KES 200 on the purchase of food and other basic essentials. While for the other KES 100 I save it so that I can have something to contribute to a self-help group that I just joined. Achieving the dream of building another house has thus been a big challenge to me."

"With this transfer, I was able to focus on food as it has been hard getting paying jobs or even an income as my spouse looks for odd jobs to make ends meet. I am a farmer but since the drought started I was not able to plant or even make a harvest as everything dried up. I used KES.2000 to buy food and water to drink. The remaining KES.1000 I used to save for any future emergencies and plans I might have to start a business. This is all thanks to Give directly."

"This first transfer was a blessing in disguise as I did not expect it. We had been having trouble paying our children's school fees and they have been regularly been sent home and that day was no exception. With this money, I was able to pay a balance of KES.200, giving them a chance to catch up with the rest of the class. On the other KES.1000, I was able to buy food and water which has been a difficult task during this drought. We have had to buy water which has long dried up in the taps and nearby streams. Thanks to Give directly, my family no longer struggles to put food on the table."

"The biggest difference in my life is that I am now able to plan for my future. Just knowing that every month we shall have food and water whether or not we get what we earn is a blessing. I can also plan to start my own business which will add to the income we get. We shall have some financial freedom that we never had before. I am thankful to Give directly."

"I am a widow and I live with my 2 grandchildren. They depend on me for my survival. My child and his wife who are the parents of my grandchildren passed on some years back. Ever since their death, I have assumed the role of a parent to them. I have to make sure they eat well and their school fees are paid so that they can continue with their education. I do not have a permanent job and depend mostly on manual jobs. The little I get I use to buy food and save some to pay school fees for my grandchildren. Recently everything has been tough for me and before receiving the transfer, I did sleep hungry together with my grandchildren. When I received the transfer I spent it all on buying food since there was none left for us to eat. I bought some six packets of maize flour, 2 Kg of sugar, tea leaves, and the rest of the money was used in purchasing water for my use at home."

"I was from fetching water from a nearby water pan. While doing my house chores in the morning I leave my phone in the house. When I got home I continued doing other house chores and when I had finished checked my phone. Upon checking it out I found that I had received the transfer from GiveDirectly. I quickly took the phone and went to the shop and bought food using the money. I was very happy."