"At the moment, life is very difficult because the sources of income are very limited in this area. Charcoal burning is the only way that I am getting very little income. During the rainy seasons, I used to get money from my farm and casual jobs were available. Currently, the drought is very bad. Everything is costly including food and water because I have to purchase everyday. These are essentials that I cannot do without and all finances are now channeled there. Getting around KES 2,000 in two weeks from charcoal business cannot be enough to cater for all my needs."

"Water shortage. Clean and fresh water is very far from here. A distance of almost 30km. This is very harsh for me since I have to use a lot of money in a week to get enough water for my family. In a day I spend 350KES to get 100ltrs. Food security. The persistent drought has brought about hunger since we can not depend on farming anymore. Our charcoal business no longer sustain us because sales are few in a month. I get approximately 2500KES a month. This is not enough to take care of all our needs."

"Food insecurity and water scarcity are the current challenges I am facing. I am a mason. I build semi permanent houses. The disadvantage that comes with this job is inconsistency. In a month, I can work on only a single house where I roughly earn 4,000 KES. This amount is not sufficient for us (my wife and I). I spend half of this amount on water. I have to pay 50 KES per 20 litres of water. The amount that remains is never enough to purchase food to last for a month."

"Lack of water in the village is the main challenge that I am facing. Water is sometimes available but it is very expensive. One drum of 20 litres of water is 70 KES. This is very expensive for me and my family because the charcoal burning business earns me very little amount of money. This makes us go without food for a day or two due to the water shortage. When I receive the cash transfers, I will use part of it to buy a 5000 litres water tank that I will use to store water."

"Food insecurity and luck of clean drinking water is the biggest challenges we are facing in my house. Getting food means you have to do charcoal burning work which is very straneous and because everyone is relying on this job, the price of charcoal does remains stagnant. We are getting 500 KES per a suck of charcoal of 70 kilograms which is very little amount of money because working on a single suck of charcoal can take you more than 4 days. There is no water in our area. All water pans have dried up and we depend on motorcycle operators to bring water from Silaloni borehole which is 24 kilometres away from my house and we buy a 20 litres jerican at 100 KES which is too expensive to me. Something which can leave my family not taking shower for some days or even cook the food for the family."

"I spent KES 20,000 to support my 7 children who are still schooling. One is in secondary school and the others in primary. I had not been able to start the payment of the current term fees, so I decided to clear the term one fees in full. Currently, they are learning without any interruption. I also spent KES 10,000 to purchase a second-hand motorbike for improving my charcoal business. Currently, I am able to transport my charcoal to the market more easily since I was hiring one from my neighbour which is very expensive. In addition, I spent KES 3000 to purchase school uniforms and home clothes for my kids since they were wearing worn-out ones which were very embarrassing whenever I escort them to school. I saved the remaining amount to assist us in our daily needs like food and water."

"I am a farmer planting maize, vegetables, and sweet potatoes. I rely on rainwater to sustain the growth of the aforementioned crops. Unfortunately for the past few seasons, rainfall has been unpredictable and unreliable. I have been forced to fetch water from nearby water pans to irrigate my crops. Sometimes the drought is so tough that the water pans dry up forcing me to fetch water from as far as 5km. This is a tedious exercise and has a long-term repercussion on my well-being."

"I am recently married and just starting a family life. I still got a lot to do in terms of development since we just started recently. Top among this is building ourselves a better house since the one I have at the moment is too small and let in water when it rains. The roof is also so low and therefore it can be very hot when it is too sunny. I intend to build a two roomed timber house of 24 iron sheets , this will cost me approximately KES 40000. My plans is to use the extra money to buy a dairy cow."

"Receiving this money means continued education for my children. I plan to achieve through livestock farming. I will spend KES 50,000 to buy 15 indigenous goats and also start a shop at Midoina shopping center. As the goats multiply, I Will sell at a profit and use the proceeds for school fees, uniform and stationery. The rest of the transfer will help me to buy three beds and mattresses as well as domestic use such as food and water."

"In my village getting clean water to drink is a problem. We used dam water which is 7 kilometers away from my compound. We are highly affected by water-borne diseases from the dam water. This makes me take my kids to hospitals often. Paying for their medical bills is always a challenge."