"My new goal is to have additional livestock in my compound. Having received the first and the second transfer and having bought one dairy cow I now have a desire of buying an additional one. Livestock is oke of the economic activity that we rely in and getting more of them will see me get empowered the more."

"With the first KES 35,000, I spent on obtaining a dairy cow. This is an addition to my livestock and hence will provide me with surplus milk for sale and hence get money to cater for other household items. I also spent KES 6,000 on buying maize which has sustained us for months as we wait for our harvesting season. With KES 3500 I spent in obtaining bedding and also clothes for myself which replaced the worn out. The remaining amount I saved I used to pay for daily household items."

"Despite not knowing how much each item I bought cost due to illiteracy which bared me from keeping the records, I clearly remember what I did the money with. First, I was living in a leaking house with my mum; therefore I thought it prudent to construct a better house for her and I renovate the old one for myself. Concerning that, I bought some building poles and rafters and other construction materials. Thereafter, I bought a cow for KES 25000.00 knowing that soon I will be getting some milk once it gives birth. For the remaining amount, I used to buy food for the family."

"When I withdrew the money, I desired to keep some livestock at home knowing that that can be converted to monetary value at any time if the need arises. Concerning that, I bought a cow for KES 20000.00 and 3 goats for KES 7400.00. I also bought 10 pieces of iron sheets for KES 10900.00 intending to build a new house and give out the old ones to my children. Being a parent of 5 primary school children it was not my pleasure to see them being sent out of school due to school fees. Thus, I paid KES 2500.00 in advance for them so that they could concentrate in their studies. Thereafter, I used the remaining amount in buying some food for my family."

"I plan to build a bigger house because I live on a small hut. I will also buy a dairy cow to add to the one I have. I expect to be making about KES 200 per day from the sale of milk. That money will go towards paying school fees for my child who is joining secondary school today. I will spend about KES 50,000 on home improvement and 40,000 on buying a dairy cow."

"In the year 2012, I had a cesarean delivery and this forced me to sell the only cow that I had then to get money for the hospital bill. Since that time I have tried to buy another cow but the income I get from my casual jobs is not sufficient. I work in people's farms doing weeding to earn a living and the much that I am paid on a single day is KES 250. I use this money to buy food for my 4children leaving me with no savings. I desire to buy a cow that would produce at least five liters of milk every day. I will leave 2-liters for household consumption and sell the rest at a nearby market for KES 50 per liter. This will be an easy way of earning money and it will be the end of me going for casual jobs. Receiving this money will give me a break from doing energy draining jobs"

"When I receive this money, I will plan KES 50,000 to build my family a spacious house. We are currently living in a single house with all my children which makes me feel embarrassed. With my little income of KES 500 daily, I can only put food on the table for my family making it difficult to build a better house for them. In our region, milk is in high demand and thus supports most families. This makes me think about buying my family a cow with KES 30,000 to enable them to tap more stable income with the production and sale of milk. This will bring joy to my household and reduce the burden of the high cost of living."

"The transfer has brought a very big difference in our lives as a family. We are happy to see what we managed to achieve with the transfer. We now have another cow that is going to help us when it calves. We can sell some of the milk and get money for our upkeep. We are getting old and we are no longer able to do heavy work. Other than that, we also managed to continue with the construction of the house that we had left pending for a while. We also managed to plant and the maize crops are doing well at the farm. All these were only possible because of the help from GiveDirectly. We are thus so much grateful."

"It was 7 am and I was at home having breakfast with my grandchildren when suddenly I heard my phone ringing hence notifying me of a new SMS. I took my phone and gave it to one of them to check for me what it was all about since I do not know how to read. She checked it and reported to me that I had received the promised transfer of KES 55000 from GiveDirectly. I was so happy on hearing this and I thanked God for the blessing. I know knew that I was going to fulfill my plan of buying a cow."

"The biggest challenge I have faced is drought. Agriculture, the mainstay of the economy, is almost entirely rain-fed. We derive water for human consumption and other uses from rivers whose recharge depends on rainfall. The prolonged drought situation has caused a famine which amplified the effects of parasites and diseases that killed all my twenty cows. I live with my brother and my mother because I am not married and I don’t have children. Being born with speech issues and not literate has been my major hindrance to securing a normal job and so have lived all my life working as a livestock farmer. I used my transfer of KES 500 as my share of contribution to buy food, KES 250 to buy six jerricans of water which would last for four days, and KES 160 to buy “Pareo”(African fabric worn by Giriama men as an attire). The remaining cash of KES 2080 is my pocket money for buying food in the nearest whenever I am left at home without ready-made food."