"My husband and I rely on burning and selling charcoal to meet the needs of our five children such as food and school fees (three of them are in primary school). Due to the market's low demand, it takes nearly a week to sell one sack of charcoal, which generates at most KES 400 for me and KES 300 for my husband. Given the rising commodity prices, this income barely covers the cost of food for a week. In fact, three days before the transfer, the household had depleted all food and we had slept hungry for three nights in a row. This is why I used KES 1950 from the transfer to purchase food stuffs such as maize flour and sugar. I used the remaining funds to purchase three hens. My plan is to let them reproduce and then sell them to make money to satisfy the family’s needs."

"For the past year, I had been buying a liter of milk for my family of four from the neighbor. This was not the case before since I had a cow taken unceremoniously by my husband's parents, leaving us struggling to provide for our children. With the first transfer, we had no bigger plan than obtaining a dairy cow that would solve the problem we had. I am glad that after a long search with the skewed prices of livestock at the time we received the transfer; I secured a lactating dairy cow at KES 45000 that has so far been serving us with at least two liters of milk every day. With the remaining amount, I spent KES 4800 on obtaining a new piece of furniture for my new house that has made my visitors more comfortable whenever they visit and used the remaining on new pairs of clothes and foodstuff for my family of four."

"After receiving the transfers I bought beddings, food and 6 iron sheets. If I earn more money after selling my pigeons peas I want to buy 14 iron sheets because I want to build a bigger house, I was not able to buy the required iron sheets because of a rise in prices."

"Upon receiving my recent transfer, I used KES 12000 to connect electricity to my house. We decided on this as a family for lighting purposes since buying paraffin has proven a challenge due to the increase in prices. Also, I spent KES 22000 to start a small business of selling smokies in our nearest trading center. Since my spouse has been a stay-at-home mother, this business gave her an opportunity to earn some income daily since she is the one operating it in the evening. Aside from this, I used KES 6000 to pay school fees for my younger brother and spent the remaining amount on food and clothes. I am a motorcycle rider and I am glad that GiveDiurectly gave us an opportunity to diversify our sources of income."

"I rely on selling palm wine to generate income and feed my two children (3-year and 6-month old). The business makes a profit of no more than KES 1,500, which is insufficient to meet all of the needs, given the rising commodity prices. As a result, our household frequently runs out of food, leaving us hungry throughout the day. That is why I used KES 700 from the transfer to buy food that would last at least a week. I used the remaining funds to purchase hen. This has been my goal for the past year, but I was yet to achieve it due to a lack of funds. I intend to let the chicken reproduce and earn money when I sell them to help support my family."

"The art of investing n livestock and selling them out later when the market prices are favorable has been a great saving technique for my household. The piece of land that my family sis on came by when I sold the livestock that I previously had and made a complete payment after topping up the income with the small savings I had. On receiving the first transfer, I spent KES 40000 on buying 7 sheep that I am hopeful will soon multiply and be of help when the need arises. I also had to inject KES 10000 into my current business and I am glad that the impact has been very distinct in that the profit margin increased, and the availability of mutton to my customers had been consistent. I later spent the remaining KES 4500 on buying a solar panel and lighting equipment that has eliminated the cost of fuel that we were previously incurring. The investment is viable enough to change my family's future."

"I love the unconditional transfers from Give Directly are helping uplift lives of the poor in our village. However, I would like to urge the organization to increase the monthly allocation so that we can beat the high prices of food."

"I live with my two children after I separated from my husband one year ago. I work as a casual laborer selling charcoal. The farm I used to work on is no longer productive because of the drought. I rarely find customers to sell charcoal to because of the low demand caused by the harsh economy. Often, I am forced to sleep hungry for a minimum of three days, surviving on water and wild fruits. The shopkeepers do not sell food on credit because the high prices of food commodities are an inconvenience to their business. Therefore, when I received my first transfer, I bought three packets of 2kg maize flour, ½ kg of sugar, 1kg of beans and 500grams of tea leaves. Buying the food in bulk gave me the assurance that I would not lack food to eat for the next one week."

"Three weeks ago, I lost my job as a motorcycle rider. I bought the motorcycle I was operating on hire purchase. I paid with ease the daily rate of KES 370 for the first three months after purchasing the motorcycle. Things became tough after the hike in fuel prices and I could no longer pay the daily rate. The motorcycle company took away the motorcycle after I failed to pay the daily rate for two weeks. Since then, I have no job and cannot cater to my family’s needs (food and clothing). When I received my transfer, I bought three packets of 2kg maize flour @ KES 750, ½ kg of sugar @ 70 and 2kg of maize @ 260. After losing my source of income, I had no money left to buy food, and it was getting tough each day."

"My youngest son had spent two weeks at home after they sent him home from school due to school fee arrears. I did not have money because I had sold no charcoal for the past week. Upon receiving the money from the transfer, I gave him KES 500 to pay school fees and resume his studies in school. Besides paying school fees, I bought half a sack of maize as food for my family. The sharp increase in food prices has affected me because I cannot buy food in bulk for my family. As a family, we survive on one meal a day so that the food does not finish up quickly."