"Receiving this money means improving my living standard. I have a family of 7 members. We have been using a pit latrine for the past ten years. Last year 2021 in December, it was washed away during the short rains season. Since then, my family has been using forest as their toilet. It is not hygienic at all. I will use KES 50000 to build a modern toilet. I will also use KES 70000 to dig a water pan. The water collected will help me do irrigation and also have enough water for my cows."

"When I completed my education 4 years ago as a teacher, I ventured into farming. I have planted both tomatoes and tissue cultured bananas. Since our area has been dry for most of the days, we have been doing the irrigation by fetching water in a nearby river and doing the irrigation. It is tedious to us as we do it ourselves, especially when fetching water. Receiving this money will make my work easier as I intend to purchase a money maker machine at a cost of KES.60,000. This will also improve the yields on the farm as we plan to expand the farm for bananas. The remaining amount will boost in buying the seedlings and also hire people to assist planting."

"Due to the persistent drought, I took the initiative to dig a well to provide irrigation water. So I spent my earlier transfer, KES 3000, to fund the exercise. Unfortunately, the laborers encountered a hard rock in the process and stopped working since I lacked the necessary resources to break it. This prompted me to look for an alternative source of income and decided to start a kiosk. So I pooled funds and ended up deducting KES 2400 from my recent transfer to acquire the initial stock. I used the rest of the money, KES 600, to enroll my son in kindergarten."

"Mostly its the kindness we have faced in our home and the profits we made from our irrigation farming"

"I have always desired to have a kitchen garden. A place I can plant vegetables for subsistence use. The plan is to buy a water tank and practice irrigation with it. I will tap the rainwater and use it for irrigation. The other agenda is to refurbish my house and extend one of the sides to create more space for us."

"My home is located near a semi-permanent river where a lot of water flows for a quarter of the year. I had aspired to start small-scale irrigation farming. My new goal is to purchase a generator water pump and pipes. I intend to start growing maize, kales, and tomatoes for my household consumption. Moreover, I will sell the extra produce to earn a living to support my kid's education."

"I have plans of starting agribusiness specifically raring chicken and and growing vegetables. Because the area is too dry, I plan to do this through irrigation either using pipe water or rain water. Considering the cost on other side, I think I'll settle for rain water where I'll add water gutters around the roof of my house to be collecting the water during rainy seasons. I'll then store this water in either an underground concrete tank or plastic tanks again depending on which one is cheaper. This means reliable source of income for me and my family."

"My new goal is to start a shop business in the village. This is because most of the villagers had to walk for a long distance to get a variety of household items. In addition, I intend to start irrigation farming at the nearby dam to plant spinach and kales for sale."

"The major challenge that our area faces is drought and this affects farming. I rely on rain for irrigation since rivers are far and when the rail fails or when I do not time well the planting season, I will end up not doing any farming and this will affect my income."

"The biggest difference in my daily life is the farm that is now under irrigation. This to us is a game changer and we are sure to m na KE more money from our horticultural farming. This will see us make enough money to be able to pay school fees much more easily and be able to meet other family's immediate needs. We are so grateful to GiveDirectly for enaing us realize this dream much earlier than we had anticipated."