"The continued insufficiency of fresh water for domestic and agricultural uses is our biggest challenge. Since we live in an area that usually experiences long dry spells yet there is no perennial river in our neighborhood, we have been forced to borrow water from my neighbor's dam. This is because we have never managed to establish a dam. Unfortunately, our neighbor's dam would dry up regularly due to the high demand for water from the community."

"Receiving this money means improved living standard to my household. This is because I am a widow depending on charcoal production as a source of income. The work is energy draining and consumes a lot of time to get the charcoal ready for sale. Besides the returns are not enough to sustain all my basic needs such as food and water water. I am planning to spend the first transfer to renovate my house, buy beddings and five indigenous goats so that I create assets that will help me in future. I will use the second transfer to pay school fees to my grand daughter who is in class eight when she joins secondary school next year."

"Drought has hit my place for the last 2 years now, getting fresh water to drink is a challenge. I have to ride my bicycle carrying three water jars for 30 kilometers. Upon reaching home am tired and I can not do other productive activities. The three jars cannot sustain my family for the day."

"With the pronged drought in my area getting food and fresh water is a challenge. Getting two meals a day is difficult for me and my health is deteriorating. I have to walk 10 kilometers to get water and still I have to cut trees burn charcoal to get food."

"Our village is faced with drought and famine currently. It is hard to fine clean water for the family. A 20 litre plastic of water goes at KES 50. Getting KES 50 per day is not easy because my husband and I are jobless. So drought is the challenge I am facing currently."

"Food insecurity is the biggest challenge we are facing. We are old and our first born whom we had educated died and I don't have any assistance from anyone in my house. There is no water in our area, all water pans dried up. I have to take 2 hours to bring water from the remaining water pan which is more than 3 kilometres away."

"Persistent drought facing our village has been the biggest challenge that I am facing. Over the years, I have been depending on subsistence farming to put food on the table. However, this is not the case. This has made life more difficult for my family. I am now forced to engage in burning charcoal which is illegal, but because it is the only means for survival, I have no choice but to do it. This business earns me less than 3500 KES a month which is not sufficient to meet the basic needs of my family. Everything I get is solely used for buying food and water. Water has become scarce and one drum of twenty litres of water goes at 100 KES. Upon receiving this money, I will buy twelve goats which survive dry weather conditions and sell when they multiply as an investment for my children education."

"This program has brought immense joy into my life as a single parent. I now fully know that the time I will receive the money, my children will be more than happy because we struggle alot hence it will be a relief. I usually go around the village asking for piece work such as washing clothes and drawing water for construction of brick ovens.If I get lucky, I earn around MWK500 per day. This is usually enough for buying some flour and additional food foe the family. I am now planning to nake sure that my house is renovated inside and painted so that its resistant against rains. Clothes and extra food will be a priority too for me and my children. I believe our lives will change for the better because of this program. Food first, ,zokudya,zovala,"

"I saw the message that I had received money at around 9 am in the morning. I was from fetching water for my home use at home. Getting water is also a hard task since we walk very long distances close to 2 hours to get water. When I got the message I became very happy and started rejoicing."

"I reside in an old house that offers poor living conditions due to worn-out walls and rusty and perforated roofs. The roofs allow rainwater to seep inside causing wet conditions that is unsafe for human living. Receiving this money means that I will be able to construct a nice house and furnish it for KES 50000. I will use the remaining amount of the transfer to buy dairy cattle, feeds, and after a periodic time start selling milk in the neighboring market center."