"I had a very big herd of livestock which was swept away by severe drought last year. Since I believe livestock was the biggest investment that I could have, I was left with nothing to call mine and I couldn't afford to buy other livestock as my husband is a charcoal burner and his business was also affected greatly by the drought as the trees around were depleted since everyone turned in to the charcoal burning business. Being enrolled in the program gave me another opportunity to own livestock and used part of my first transfer to buy livestock and spend 39000 KES to buy three cows. I spend the balance to buy enough food and clothing for my kids. I'm so grateful for the support."

"We have been sharing a very small space with our five kids in our single room. My husband is a local beer seller while I'm a house wife. Although our desire was to build a bigger house for our family, the daily local beer sells that he was earning averaging to 300 KES per day is not enough to provide basic needs, pay school fees and save towards building a house. when I was enrolled in the program, my husband and I agreed to buy building materials with part of the first transfer and build a house with the second transfer. I spend 30000 KES to buy iron sheets and other building materials, 11000 KES to buy a cow and the balance to buy food and other household items such as mattress and utensils. If it was not for the transfers, all this would not have been achievable and I'm grateful for the financial support."

"We have been living in a very tiny single room that my husband build during his youth days. With our two kids who are growing fast, we needed space and privacy for ourselves and we also wanted to build them a room of their own where they can where they can be comfortable. My husband who's a motorcycle rider earning averagely 250 KES per day had been trying to save towards buying building materials but due to family responsibilities, I had taken ages to buy few things. When I was enrolled in the program, our first priority was building the house into completion so that we can focus on other family matters. I also wanted to buy livestock because I lost all my livestock to severe drought last year. I spend 20000 KES to buy building poles, 6000 to buy two goats, 20000 KES to buy cow and the balance to buy enough food to take us for some few months. I'm hopeful that with the next transfer, I will complete building my two bedroom house and I'm so grateful to GiveDirectly for the support."

"I had planned on purchasing a dairy cow. This was always in my mind. There was a certain breed that I had always wished to own. I am so grateful because I own it now and I get enough milk for the family and I can sell the surplus to earn an income. I had planned on paying school fees for my son who is in secondary school. This had given him humble time to study and I hope to see him performing much better than before."

"I dropped out of school after class eight out of a lack of school fees. I decided to venture into casual jobs as a way of livelihood. In the year 2017, I developed a chest problem out of my motorcycle taxi business. This forced me to divert my attention to farming which I am currently engaged. I have developed a passion for it and it has always been my ambition to expand and improve it. This cash to me means an added asset and improved farm produce. I am planning to spend KES 40000 to buy a lactating cow to add to my two cows. This is an achieved goal for me. I will be able to sell more milk from my farm thus have more income to educate my children and meet other family basic needs. With the offspring to come, I will be financially secured hence live a stress-free life."

"Most of the people who were registered received the transfer and spent it well. Most of the people who received started businesses, purchase dairy cows, and paid school fees for their children in various schools. I do not find anything that GiveDirectly did not do well."

"Fortunately through the help of the first transfers I managed to start the construction of my house. I wanted to improve from what I initially had so for the roof I decided to have iron sheets installed unlike before where it was palm thatched. For the first transfers I used most the transfers to build a greater part of the house but I was unable to finish on everything. Upon receiving the second transfers I opted to finish on what was left so I bought thirty pieces of iron sheets which cost me KES 26,500. I was hopeful this amount would help to finally finish up on the roof. Then I went ahead and bough two cows which cost me KES 26,000 and reason behind it was that I wanted to grow my far and have more livestock which I planned on benefitting from them both domestically and mostly commercially."

"I used almost KES 10000 to help in building a chicken house and used another KES 20000 to buy a dairy cow. The remaining amopunt of money was used to buy food and clothes for my family and we are so excited that we were able to accomplish all these with the money that we received. My two children have their future secured through the investments that we made. In future we plan to buy a piece of land that will enable us practice agriculture that gives more returns and thus better living standards for our family."

"My new goal is to be able to accumulate enough money through a savings plan that will enable us pay school fees for our children who will start joining secondary school soon. Our first born is in standard seven and we have always dreamt of offering them the best in terms of education especially at their secondary level. We plan to save up from our daily hustles as well as from the sale of milknonce we start having milk from the cows that we bought. I work as a tailor and my husband works as a mechanic and it is only through saving that we can be able to pay the school fee of our children comfortably. We look forward to doing this together as a family and we are so grateful to GiveDirectly for having gave us a helping hand to accomplish whta we have accomplished and be able to concentrate on the education of our children."

"I used KES 25000 to buy a young heifer that has added to the two dairy cows that we own as a family. Livestock does well within my location and they are easily disposed living assets that can help one to meet the cost of any emergin needs foreseen and unforeseen. They also multiply very quickly and increase in value over time. The remaining amount of almost KES 25000 was used to buy enough food for family, clothes and improve my small business of grceries. We are currently living a more happy and stress free life different from the time before we received the transfers and my husband and I are so grateful for the support given to us."