"My wife passed two years ago and currently, the challenge that I am facing is not having companionship. She used to cook for me, wash my clothes, and warm water for me to take a bath. Things have changed since she passed, l have to cook for myself and wash my clothes which I was not used to it. Sometimes I go fetch water for myself and this brings shame to me because this should be done by women. This has lowered my self-esteem as being a man."

"I have lived in a grass thatched house all my life and I feel like it is time to upgrade to a better one. The house lacks good ventilation and it often gets smoky during cooking time and this irritates visitors whenever they visit. This forces them to spend a lot of time outside than they do inside. Since age is also catching up with me, I need a house that can help me harvest rainwater so that I do not keep going to the river to fetch. I am a casual laborer who does jobs like weeding in people's farms to meet my daily needs. Such jobs pay as little as KES 100-150 per day and because I live from hand to mouth this is all spent on buying food. I plan to buy 24 pieces of iron sheets for KES 700 each and spend another KES 9000 to pay for labor. Receiving this money will accord me a decent house that I have yearned for years."

"I have been having a leg problem for the past 2 months. This is after I fall when I was from fetching water. The leg has been disturbing me seriously to an extent that I could not walk without a walking stick. Last week I went to a certain clinic and the treatment assisted me because I was healed and I can comfortably perform my chores as normal. This brought a lot of Joy to my life."

"My husband used to work in the city in a certain company. He was earning a good income, but when Covid 19 emerged he lost his job which was the only hope we had in the family of 9. This brought a lot of sadness to me because we had an ongoing project ( business house) and it had to suspend. Receiving this money means finalizing it. I am planning to spend 70,000 KES to complete the house. This will induce income for my family because in a month I can earn 10,000 KES. This is sufficient to sustain all our needs such as food. In addition, I will spend the remaining part of the transfer to purchase a 3000 liters water tank I will use to harvest and store water for us."

"We should all agree that clean water is a basic need in each family but sadly, this is not the case for my family of 4. Access to clean sufficient water is a challenge I am currently facing as I have to move between homesteads with boreholes to fetch some. This is draining especially now that it is a drought season here and they at times deny me access for they preserve some for their cattle and households. The only option remaining is to access this basic need from the river that is 1.5kms away. This consumes most of my time and energy that I could have otherwise used to fend for my family therefore this saddens me."

"Scarcity of food and water is the biggest challenge that I am currently facing. This is due to the devastating drought that we are currently facing in our area. I buy 4 jerricans of 20 liters of water per day that costs me KES 200. This is very expensive for me since I have to buy food daily for my family of 8. We occasionally skip meals or even borrow from other relatives something that ashames me a lot."

"It was around 9am when I was resting from a long distance of fetching some water when I hear a message tone from my phone. Due to how tired I was, I reluctantly took my phone from the table to see what kind of a message it was though I was sure it is just a promotional message from these funny organizations which just send messages to peoples phones. At a glance on the phone screen, I didn’t believe my eyes at first. I composed myself and took a second glance to comprehend the message well thinking that it may have come from the usual conmen who send messages randomly. My heart was filled with joy and gratitude after knowing that it was the first transfer we were told about GiveDirectly. I jumped up and down in joy knowing that things were going to take a new shape."

"After withdrawing the money, I bought 5 goats for KES 20000.00 since my desire was to keep livestock at home. The appropriate one I thought of was a cow but looking at how dry the area is I opted for goats because goats can resist more than cows. I also repaired my motorbike which has been assisting us in fetching some water as well as doing some little light transportation of goods and even people from one destination to another at a fee. The repair cost KES 7000.00. Having settled the two issues which were in my top list, I also bought a bed for KES 6000.00, school uniforms and other clothes for my children which cost KES 5000.00. I also paid KES 1000.00 school fees for my nursery school child. For the remaining amount I took KES 6000.00 and bought some poles and kept the rest for food and other family issues. The poles I bought mark the beginning of how I will use the second transfer because I am planning to construct a house."

"A prolonged period of drought has been the biggest challenge we are currently facing. We receive minimal rainfall during the year and it has reduced our crop production. As farmers, we rely on rainfall to grow food for consumption and water for both domestic and animal use. I have 0.7 acres of land which I have grown maize for domestic consumption which is not enough to sustain the entire family of 6 for a year. We normally harvest approximately 3 bags which is hardly enough. We are forced to buy at least 4 more bags at KES 3,200 per bag to take us for the rest of the year which is costly."

"The transfer has brought a very big difference to our lives. We were able to construct another house that is roofed with iron sheets. I am thus able to collect rainwater just like my neighbors and I no longer have to go to the river when there are rains."