"The biggest difference in my daily life is that I have build a better house. I used to live in a small grass thatched house which could not host all my family members conformable. The house was so old and it was almost falling down. I depend on small scale farming and causal jobs in the village. The amount of money that I used to get from my casual jobs is so small and I was not able to buy the building materials. I was only able to buy the small basic needs. When I received the transfer I bought the building materials and build a better house. Currently I live in a good house and I no longer get shy to welcome victors into my house. I no longer stress up on where to host my relatives whenever they visit me in my house .GiveDirectly has changed my living standard. I am able to harvest clean water from the rain. This were not possible before."

"Water shortage is the current challenge that I am facing. This is due to the ravaging drought that we are currently experiencing in our area. I buy four jerricans of 20 liters of water per day for KES 50 each. This is very costly to me since I have to buy food every for my family of 10. With most of the money spent on food and water paying school, fees are now a problem for me."

"I got a piece of job last month of fetching water for my neighbors using my bicycle and I got some money. I visited my wife with presents only to find that my wife had got a baby boy. Getting some money from my piece of job and receiving a baby boy is what brought joy and happiness to me."

"The current drought is the greatest challenge I am facing. I was a proud owner of 20 goats and 10 cows. I lost all my livestock due to lack of water caused by the drought. Before, I could sell some of my livestock to earn an income. Right now, I have nothing to smile about. I only depend on charcoal burning which does not fully satisfy the needs of my family. I approximately get 5,000 KES per month. With a family of 7 children, this amount is too little to sustain us. The drought has also forced me to walk for longer distances in search of water for domestic use."

"I spent most of my transfer on my husband's motorcycle, which took a total of KES18000 in repairs and service. This was very important because we do not have available tap water close to us. We always spent approximately KES750 weekly to pay for water transport services offered by other motorcycle taxis. This was very expensive in that at times we would run out of water within the week and we will be forced again to seek the services of the motorcycle taxis. Therefore repairing our motorcycle gave us a very huge relief, we nolonger have to worry about running out of water in the house within the week."

"Water and sanitation. Fresh and clean water has been a persistent problem. The only water source is a pond which is almost 30km from here. This has been a challenge since I have a one and half year old child and requires me to hire a motorbike. I spend almost 450 KES a week for water only but I have no option because of my child. The skin health of my child has been affected by the water from the pond. I was advised to use a lotion to apply to my child after washing him with the water or alternatively to boil it first before washing him."

"Water scarcity is the biggest hardship I am currently facing. It has been 6 months since we receive rain in our areas. Nowadays, I have to wake up at midnight every day and walk 40 minutes distance and go and wait for water as it flows out from the ground. There is a certain well that has remained the only hope for the whole village. Due to the high water demand, you have to queue and wait for your turn to fetch sometimes I spend almost 8 hours waiting which hinders me from performing other tasks such as burning charcoal to provide for my family other needs such as food."

"I engage my self in fetching and selling water for my up keep. I sell a 20litre jerrican at KES 25. In my life I have never received cash which exceeds KES 500. On this bright morning, approximately two months ago, I was visited by my first grandson who happen to work in town.For the first time, I was able to hand in KES 1000 which he gave me for my up keep. This indeed made me happy."

"After a long day of tiresome activities( fetching water a distance of more than a kilometre, cooking for children and more other errands) the coming of a night should be something to long for. But this is not my case. I sleep on a mat laid on the unleveled ground. I always wake up tired as if I have spent the night in the shamba. Lack of good and comfortable beddings is one of the challenges I currently face."

"Feeding my family is my main challenge, depending on my husband's income is not easy because the money is not enough to take care of all the responsibilities in the house. I fetch water for people during this dry season where I earn 100 KES per day. The money sometimes is not enough to feed my 8 children and pay their school fees too."