"For a while, I have been living in a small congested house. On receiving the money the first objective I thought of implementing was to increase the size of my house as well as placing an iron sheet roof. I bought 16 pieces of iron sheets for KES 14,080.00. Having been sleeping on a mat and a traditional bed which was very small for quite some time I saw it prudent for me to buy a standard bed and a mattress for KES 10,000.00. I also bought 2 goats for KES 8,000.00. My aim was to buy a cow but looking at how dry our area is, I offered to buy the goals because they can easily cope up with the climate compared to cows. As I stated earlier that our area is very dry I saved the rest of the money for food and water."

"It was at around 8 AM when I was fetching water from the dam when my elder son followed me looking all excited and I suspected that there was some good news he wanted to share with me. Before I could even ask him, he said that I had finally received my first transfer as promised earlier. I was so happy and I remember I went back home and started planning how I would use the money with my whole family. I will forever be thankful to GiveDirectly for the huge positive transformation it has brought into my life."

"I was from fetching water for domestic use at the river when I heard my phone ring. I decided to check and read the message before continuing with my chores and upon reading that I was KES 55000 richer, I became so happy and immediately knew that my son would finally join a college as we had planned. I am so grateful to have been among the lucky people to receive their transfer on time."

"Our main house is very old and when there is rainfall, water seeps from the floor creating an unsafe living condition. There is a bad smell that is emitted from the wet surface which poses a health risk to all of us. Receiving this money means that I will be able to construct a house, cement it and pay for labor costs all amounting to KES 40000. By doing this my family and I will stay safe and live in peace. I also intend to use the remaining amount of the transfer to buy one dairy cattle and clear school fees arrears for my children."

"On receiving the transfer, I spent KES 16000 to purchase a generator. This had been my priority and dream goal since I live near a river and I plant trees, tomatoes, and vegetables for sale. I am planning to be using it to pump water for irrigation purposes since I have been doing it manually and it is so tiresome and time-consuming. In addition, I spent KES 21000 buying some building materials like iron sheets, nails, cement, and timber to use in building a chicken coop as I am planning to start a poultry project. I still have KES 17000 that I am planning to use in starting up this project by buying some chicks and their feeds."

"Well my biggest difference is the upgrade in my living standards. I have multiple sources of income and also it as eased my troubles in terms of water. I now use my motorcycle to fetch water from faraway places. I am also able to sell some water and get money too. So I can say my life has changed for the better because of the funds,"

"The happiest part in my life the past 6 months is when I sold chickens and got money that I used to buy clothes and backets that am using to store water. I was happy because I sold the chicken at high price I got about MK 10000 after selling 4 chickens."

"I did buy a bicycle which will greatly help me in terms of fetching water since I come from an area that is prone to luck water. I also bought a bed which I sleep on currently. I also bought some goats and I am rearing them at the moment and once they do increase in number I am going to sell and attend to my needs. I did buy a solar panel that I use in lighting my home."

"I plan to go the hospital for eye check up because I lost one of my eyes doing my rice farm scratching and my children took me to the hospital for eye operation but it's like the operation was not done the right way because water is always pulling out of my eye since the operation. I will expand my business with portion of it and buy cement along with zinc to use it for my house."

"The challenge that I am currently facing is food insecurity due to prolonged drought. It has been three years since we received reliable rainfall in our area. This has made agriculture unreliable. I am a house wife depending on charcoal production which is energy draining and the returns KES 2,400 per month is not enough to cater for all basic needs in my house. All the income I get goes into buying food and water. Due to this, l have been struggling to save money for the education of my children as well as food for my household. Sometimes, I borrow from relative, something I am ashamed of."