"I spent all the amount in my first transfer KES 1,200 on buying food for my family. I previously earned a living by raising livestock for other people. I lost all the dairy cows that produced milk for sale because of the harsh effects of the drought, hence losing my source of income. I have never had peace of mind since I Lost My source of income and I now depend on casual jobs that pay very little and are not daily. My wife works as a housemaid in Mombasa town but she earns very little (KES 2500 per month) which is not enough to cater to all the family needs (food, school fees, and clothing). The earnings from my wife go to savings which we will use to clear off the school fee debt of KES 20,000 for our two sons who are currently in secondary school. Therefore, when I received my transfer, I opted to buy food since we had nothing left to eat in the house after unsuccessfully looking for a job for the last 3 days."

"Three years ago, I ran a successful business selling livestock in the market. With the business booming, it was easy to take care of my family's needs (food, paying school fees, and clothing). When the drought began, I lost over 80 cows. After losing my only source of income, I cannot feed my family and we often sleep hungry (3 days a week). My two children have suffered the most in school because they were back home to collect school fees and they end up missing the most important classes. Therefore, when I received my transfer, I spent KES 750 to pay off an accrued school debt for my son in secondary school. Paying off the debt will ensure that they admit him back to school and continue with their studies when they reopen the school. Besides Paying off the debt, I spent the rest of the money on buying food for my family since we had nothing left to eat after exhausting the existing stock of food."

"With the prolonged drought we have experienced for two years, food has become scarce and expensive more so, cornflour. There are times when we have to walk for about 30 kilometers in search of it. When I received my second transfer, I had to prioritize it. I, therefore, bought a bundle of cornflour at KES 1500 while the remaining KES 1500 I spent on 5 chickens for rearing. I am a widow with children who depend on me the KES 200 I make daily from the charcoal sale is not enough to meet our needs. My projection is to sell the chickens in the future to raise money for purchasing goats. They are great investments and if goes well then I will sell some of them in the future to help me pay for my household bills, especially my children's school fees. Later on, I will also sell some and later use the money to purchase cows."

"My spouse and I both work part-time but do not have a steady income. As a result, we frequently adopt the practice of rearing livestock to generate income by selling some of our flock. Unfortunately, we lost two goats we had by that time due to the extreme drought we had last year in October, as there was no greenery for them to eat. Because of the fluctuations in the weather this year, I decided to buy a goat for KES 2,900 shortly after receiving my transfer. I am hopeful that it will survive and have more offspring, which I will sell once they are old enough to buy a milk cow. Thanks to GiveDirectly for enrolling me in its program."

"I am a widow who relies on peasant farming as my primary source of income. Since my husband's death, I've been the sole breadwinner for my three children, one of whom is disabled. For the previous two seasons, I have been unable to harvest due to the unpredictable weather pattern, since all of my crops have dried up as a result of severe drought. This has made life a little more difficult for me because I am unable to provide meals for my wonderful children. As a result, as soon as I received my transfer, I set aside KES 1,000 to buy food for my family of four. I am delighted that as a result of the transfer, we have not yet gone for a day without eating this month. I also spent KES 1,000 on buying chicken, which I plan to keep and sell later to boost my other sources of income. Finally, on the merry-go-round, I saved KES 1000. In December, I plan to buy a dairy cow with my savings. I will be able to get milk and sell some to help sustain my family as a result of this. I also bought maize flour, beans, and sugar with the remaining transfer KES 1,000. I did not have any food on that particular day and was merely planning to borrow some."

"We spent KES 30000 of our recent transfer on buying two calves. We bought one at KES 17000 and the other at KES 13000. We decided to buy them because we didn't have cows of our own. We hence usually incur the cost of buying milk. Sometimes the children become late going to school because we have to go out in the morning to buy milk which is not usually easily available. With the calves, we will be able to have milk for our consumption and we will no longer have to incur the cost of buying some. It has always been our wish to have a cow of our own but due to a lack of money, we were not able to buy one. My wife and I usually depend on casual work to earn a living. The money that we get paid is little and is only enough to meet the basic household needs, that is, to buy food and milk. When there is food, we save the money and we use it to pay school fees for our children. Other than that, we spent some of the money on farming where we rented land at KES 2500, tilled it at KES 1500 and we bought seeds and planted them. We also spent KES 4500 on clearing the school fees arrears for our child and we saved KES 8000 that we plan to use in paying school fees for the next academic term. With the remaining transfer amount, we bought food with it."

"It was around 8 am and I was outside feeding the cow when suddenly, I heard my phone ringing hence notifying me of a new SMS. I decided to stop and check what it was all about. To my surprise, it was an SMS indicating that I had received the KES 55000 that GiveDirectly had promised us. I was so happy that I called unto my wife telling her about the great news. She came with lots of excitement on her face upon hearing this to confirm if it was true. We then gave thanks to God for the blessing. I then asked her and my son to prepare themselves so that they could go withdraw the amount. That day was our happiest, we even ate special food to celebrate it."

"The biggest difference in my daily life since I received the transfers is the availability of capital for starting a poultry layers project. This is because they grow fast compared to dairy farming and once grown will be of high value. Additionally, through the transfers, I have bought a dairy cow. Hence relief from debt burdens. Thirdly, the transfers have turned around my mobile money business from working capital of KES 20,000 to KES 50,000. This has led to an increment of commission from KES 6,000 to KES 10,000. Lastly, from the withdrawals of transfers by GiveDirectly recipients within my locality, I got KES 15,000 commission which has helped increase my working capital from the normal KES 20,000 to now KES 50,000."

"The biggest difference in my daily life since I received the transfers is the availability of adequate food for my family. This is because I used to rely on my son who is a teacher after completing campus for food. There's no more stress due to lack of food since the transfers came right on time. Secondly, is the addition of a second dairy cow which I had desired for the past four years when my son was in college."

"The biggest difference in my daily life since I started receiving the transfers is the availability of time to attend to my farm. This is because before I used to wake up early to look for food for my family through my motorcycle taxi. But after the transfers, I no longer wake up early since I have access to basic needs. Secondly, I am happy because I now own a dairy cow which I had desired to buy for the past three years but couldn't afford."