"It was a few minutes to 10.00 am after I came back from fetching water when I realized that GiveDirectly had sent the promised money. To me, this was a life-changing opportunity and my heart was filled with joy. This money gave me hope that I would be able to build a more spacious, decent house for my family. I informed my spouse who was out to look for some casual work since we needed to go and withdraw the same day in order to start the construction process."

"I am an elderly woman and my whole life i have never slept on a mattress and bed. I used to sleep on the ground with a misquote net as a mat. When i recieved the money, i went and bought a mattress and bed so that now i have a comfortable place to sleep. With the remaining money, i want to build a fence around my house because during the raining season my sourroundings are filled with water runing to the lake."

"When I received my transfer, I spent KES 20000 to build a kitchen for my family and KES 25000 to purchase a heifer. Dairy cows are beneficial to people as they are a source of wealth and pride in our community. Due to this, I decided to purchase one using the transfer as an addition to the one I already had. I will be selling milk to my neighbors when they reproduce and use the money in paying school fees for my children. Preparing meals during the rainy season has been a difficult task for my spouse due to the leaking roof as it was grass-thatched and old. Because of this, we would at times take our meals late at night whenever it rains as it would be impossible to cook since the rainwater would extinguish the fire. I am glad since we're almost completing building an iron-roofed kitchen that will enable her to cook at anytime. In addition to this, I spent KES 2000 to buy new school uniforms for my children as they did not have and spent KES 4000 on home clothes for my family members after buying one sack of maize for our consumption at KES 3000."

"The biggest difference in my daily life is that I am happy and stress free unlike before. This is because I now have water at my doorstep and I eat to my satisfaction as I was able to acquire a water tank and two sacks of maize using my transfer. I have been using this tank to harvest rain water and due to this, I do not incur any cost of hiring a motorcycle to help me ferry water from the river to home. In addition, I get to dress in clean clothes always since I have enough water at my doorstep and this has boosted my self-esteem."

"We have 0.5 acres of land which we have subdivided into portions; in one portion we have grown maize and beans on the other. I spend my morning hours on that piece of land weeding, digging, and planting. I spend my afternoon hours doing other household chores and later fetch firewood and water for domestic use. Seeing my husband back home with food in the evening completes my day. Having time to relax as we chat with the rest of the family in the evening is the happiest part of my day."

"I have no specific time that I become happy. This is because due to the longer periods of drought that has affected my livestock makes me walk long distances to graze them. Getting a place to graze our cows is another challenge because majority of the people in the village own cows. This makes me sad as I have nowhere to graze my animals. The only time I become happy is when I get a place where my livestock can get water and graze."

"The biggest difference in my daily life is that I have bought a dairy cow. I used to own one but the milk production was low. So most of the times I used to buy milk and it was so costly for me. This is because I do not have a continuous source of income. I depend on small scale farming. I plant beans and sweet potato. This is for consumption, I had no surplus to sell to earn an income. I had always wished to buy a dairy cow but it was not possible before I didn't had money. Currently I have a dairy cow and I get enough milk for my family and the extra to earn an income to meet other basic household needs. I am so grateful because I am able to save the money that I could have used to buy milk to meet other additional basic needs. I spent most of my time looking after my cows, just ensuring that the have needs and clean water to drink."

"The complete construction of two houses for my family is the biggest difference in my daily life. The bigger one is spacious enough for my children to share reading space and get room to sleep later at night. I am also grateful that we can collect enough water from the roof cutting the cost of buying or collecting it from the river that is so far from our home."

"In my entire life I have worked as a casual labourer within the village.The jobs I do include fencing,weeding, digging up boreholes and carrying logs.Building a house has been a great struggle to me to an extent that we have to endure the impacts it has such as leaking of the roofs .This causes discomforts especially when it rains at night .My family and I have to find a place to lay their heads while their feet and beddings get soaked with the drips of water from the roof . Moreover this house is becoming too small for our growing family.My family consist of four kids and my lovely wife.All activities such cooking ,sleeping and guests entertainment are done in this single room .Am always uneasy and worried when guests come around,this is because there is insufficient space nor chairs within my house,the room is too hot on a sunny day due to heat from the fire and the sun. With this amount I shall put up a new house of twenty four iron sheets each at the cost of KES 800 and KES 5000 for doors and windows. In addition ,this roof will be renewed at the cost of KES 12000."

"Being a farmer in a drought-prone area has negative impacts on agricultural production. It is no wonder that farmers in rainfed areas are abandoning farming as a source of livelihood. I am lucky to be among the farmers living along Chepkulo River. My dream has always been to buy a generator to pump water to my farm for purposes of irrigation. I plan to buy spend KES 24000 on the same. Receiving this money will enable me to farm without having to worry about rain."