"As a single mother to my three kids, it has been hard meeting all the financial obligations both within and out of my household. Starting an extra project with the small amount I had been getting from my groceries was so hard that I had always been left with dreams that could not be realized. I am glad that I had been able to make great differences with the transfers, and more so installation of pipes that are currently conveying water to my doorstep."

"I spent KES 15000 of my first transfer on buying a bicycle. I was spending a lot of money daily paying people for carrying water. There is a shortage of water that has forced us to buy and carry over long distances. To hire a person daily is a bit expensive thus having the bicycle will make it easier and cheaper to carry on my own. At least I will not be incurring the cost of paying people to carry the water. Apart from this, I also spent KES 25000 to pay for a piece of land I had acquired for farming. Having a bigger portion of arable land will ensure an increased harvest during the planting season. This will ensure that I have enough food for my family thus food security for my household. I spent the remaining amount to boost my small business of selling vegetables and sardines. I bought enough stock in which I am now earning an increased profit. I can effectively take care of my family's basic needs like food daily and paying school fees for my children with ease."

"When I receive this cash transfer, I will use some to recondition my house by buying iron sheet or Zinc to change the roof of my house from grass thatch because during rain season our house can be very miserable, water leaks everywhere and sometimes our mattress and clothes gets wet and some damaged. I am sure that will ease burden and bring some smiles to my family because we are always worried whenever rain season nears. My children school fees is one of the Paramount issue because we find it difficult to get enough money from the Bitterball garden I depend on as source of income to send them to school. I will use the balance to pay people to make larger farm for me and my family because my age can not permit me to make farm and do hard works."

"I spent part of my forst transfer on buying a new wooden bed and a mattress at a total of KES 13000. I had to prioritize this becasue I had been having the desire to sleep in a better place but I could not afford it because of the financial constraints that I have been facing all that long. I later bought ten jerricans at KES 1000 and a plastic water tank ( 1400ltres) at KES 1500 respectively. In addition, I bought some household items like plastic chairs which have now replaced the old mats that I have been using, decent clothes, and utensils. I am now so happy because I no longer borrow those of my friends which was sometimes embarrassing. With the remaining amount of money, I bought enough foodstuffs for my family since it has also been a challenge."

"It was around 8 AM when I was at the farm watering my vegetable then I heard my phone ringing continuously. Without wasting time I had to notify my helper to confirm its content. Since we were very busy he suggested that we should proceed with the farming exercise. After about five minutes another message popped in. I couldn't control my patience and asked him to check for the second time. I was so excited after realizing that it was an Mpesa message from GiveDirectly. We even decided to return home and spread the good news to my family members.."

"I was in my house relaxing after arriving home from fetching water which is a two hours walk from my home. I heard a message alert on my phone, I was with my helper who confirmed that I had received my transfer. I felt very happy for receiving my transfer that would guarantee my kid's education."

"I have been struggling a lot to feed my family and pay school fees for my children over the past six years. We separated with my husband and I took the children with me. I tried taking up domestic work in Mombasa but it didn't work out for me, finally, I had to come back home. Since I got here, I have been just pulling odd jobs mostly ferrying water for others to earn about 200 KES every day. This isn't enough to feed my family and pay school fees for my children. I know I'll be able to do this and even rent a piece of land to do some subsistence farming with this transfers."

"It will be easy for me to go back to growing and selling vegetables like I previously did. I used to grow kales and tomatoes before the onset of this current drought. This got me good returns of up to 2000 KES per day, but currently, I'm just riding a hired motorcycle taxi that only fetches 700 KES a day except for weekends when I can make a maximum of 1500 KES. But of course, we still have to split this two ways between me and the motorcycle owner. With Givedirectly's money, I will buy a water tank and probably a water pump later on so that I can improve my scale of production and be involved in farming full-time."

"Receiving this money means better housing for me. Currently, I live in a small grass-thatched house, which acts as the bedroom, kitchen, and living room. It is impossible to harvest any rainwater. I plan to build an iron-roofed house that will hopefully solve my water problem. I will not be going far to fetch water for my livestock and I will also get clean drinking water which is normally a problem to find. This will cost me KES 30,000. For the rest of the amount, I will buy a dairy cow as a way of investing this money as it will also earn me an income by selling milk produced."

"Prolonged drought and famine in this region has led to lack of food, water and money to satisfy my needs and that of my family. When we have rains I can at least get food for my children and even sell the surplus for money. The last time we had good harvest was two years ago. We often skip meals because I cannot afford to provide the three meals a day. I depend on selling charcoal to get food. Working in the bushes so as to get charcoal for sale takes a lot of time and the money is barely enough to satisfy all the needs. A sack of charcoal goes for KES 600, which I manage to sell one or two in a week. Food insecurity is therefore my biggest hardship."