"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."

"Due to drought, where I sued to fetch water dried. My old age cannot allow me to fetch eater long distances and for this reason, I am forced to pay people sometimes when I have money to help me fetch water because it is a necessity."

"It has now been five years since it rained. Getting water has been very difficult and I have had to make major adjustments at school. I have to wake up thirty minutes earlier than I used to just to go and fetch water for home consumption. In the evening I also have to leave school early to do the same. It has interrupted my study time and also my free time."

"Lack of school fees is my greatest challenge, most times when I am sent home for arrears. I am forced to engage in some casual jobs like fetching water, what I am paid I take to school, and talk to my teachers to let me continue with classes. As much as it motivates me to work harder it also drains my energy and concentration at school."

"I spent part of my first transfer on buying three goats at a total of KES 7000. This has been my long-time dream to at least own one but because of the financial constraints, I couldn't afford it. I also bought a plastic water tank (240litres) at KES 2500 which will enable me to harvest and store the rain water for my domestic purposes. I addition, I bought ten pieces of iron sheets at KES 10000, building poles, nails, timber, and threads. This was for the construction of a new house for my three sons who have been sheltering at their friend's houses which was relatively far from the village. I also paid the school fees of KES 11000 for my children and I am happy they will be able to sit for their examinations in three weeks' time. With the remaining amount of money, I bought sufficient foodstuffs for my family and other household items."

"I had just come back home from fetching water when at 9 a.m, I received a message. It was a notification that I had received KES 55,000 from GiveDirectly. This made me so happy because I knew that my family's living conditions were about to improve."