"I have passed alot of misfortunes and challenges in life. I am married for more than 30 years but my wife was not blessed to have any child despite my hard effort of taking her to different gynecologists. The scenerio of treating my wife has made me to spend all the resources I have acquired in life and now I remain living in a small hut. I have lost hope in life that I will have a baby. My wife is barren and we are growing older now (54 years). I am thinking of building a good house for myself to live in and buy goats to rear as my wealthy. Receiving this money means I will fulfill my dream to have a good house. I am tired of sleeping in a squeezed hut."

"Investing in a long-term project has ever been my top priority when I receive the transfers. My desired plan is to venture into livestock keeping especially goats that multiply so fast. To start this project, I am intending to buy 1 goat every month, for the first 6 months. This will be a good beginning and within a short time, they will breed and increase in number. On the other hand, I will also spend my transfers on buying some basic needs like food, new clothes and also to repair my house to a better standard. This will change my livelihood and thus, this is generally what receiving this money means to me."

"My house is not in a good condition and I have desired to construct a better one. This ambition has not come to reality due to financial instability. With this cash grant, I am so confident that, this dream will be coming through soon. To offset this dream, I am required to save my monthly transfers to raise 40000 KES, which I will pool with that of my wife to enable us to construct the new house. This will bring joy to my life since our livelihood will change for the better. On the other hand, I will also invest in livestock, especially goats to have a long-term project to support my family in the future."

"My wife has been sick for the last two years. The sickness drained us financially because she was in a very bad state that she was not able to walk. When someone you love so deeply is battling an illness,all you need to do is be present and show love in any way possible. Since I'm old and unproductive now, I was relying on my children to foot in the bills but because they don't have reliable jobs I had to borrow money to settle the hospital bill. After receiving the transfers,I spend KES 20,000 to pay debts, bought five goats at KES 24,000, and the balance to pay hospital bills. Am happy that my wife can now walk after being bedridden for two years."

"The biggest difference is that I now have goats in my compound. I am glad that finally, I managed to fulfill the desires of my heart. This has been my long-time dream to at least have one on my homestead but I could not afford it since I am jobless. Being a widow has been very tough all along because I did not have any assets that I could rely on especially when I experience any challenge. I have been depending on my children for all my needs unfortunately, sometimes they could not afford to provide the meals. This is because they did not have any stable source of income. Therefore having the goats means a lot to me because once they multiply, I will be in a position to sell some and cater to any emergency. Also, I am planning to send all my grandchildren to school once the goats increase in number."

"I used part of it KES 4000 to buy furniture Kes 5000 to buy a goat and Kes 20000 to buy poles for fencing compound and the remaining amount to buy food and clothes for family. I had for a long time wanted to fence our compound but the income that my husband got from his driving job was just enough to feed us and provide for the family. My husband would always encourage me to be optimistic saying that we would one day be able to fence our compound once our children are done with their secondary and tertiary education. When GiveDirectly came in, I saw it as an opportunity to fence our compound and make it look more decent. I am happy that I have been able to accomplish this and my compound now looks presentable and decent."

"As a single mother of four, I have been yearning to at least have assets that I can rely on at any time. However, this was not attained because of the financial crisis that I have been through all along. I, therefore, settled for the pair of oxen purposely for my farming activities. Initially, I have been using my hand when preparing my farm which was very tiresome. Also, I ended up not getting enough yields as a result. Having the bulls will honestly be a great relief to me becaue at least I will be preparing my farm in good time and even hire them to my neighbors and generate an income. I will be using the cash to provide for my family's needs without straining. Also with the goats, once they multiply, I plan to sell one or two and pay school fees for my children. Having the livestock, therefore, makes the biggest in my daily life."

"Since I desired to keep livestock at home like how my neighbors were, that was the first thing I did when I withdrew the money. I bought 9 goats for KES 31500.00 and 2 sheep for KES 8000.00. Buying this livestock is an investment because it can be converted to monetary value at any time need arises. I also paid KES 4000.00 school fees for my grandchild who is still in primary school. Thereafter, I used the remaining amount in buying some clothes and food for the family."

"The first thing I did before moving to the planned structure on how to use the money, I bought a bale of maize flour to ensure that there is food at home. Thereafter, I bought iron sheets and other building materials for KES 20000.00 intending to build a new house and make the old one a kitchen. I also paid KES 2000.00 school fees for my primary school child so that he could not be sent home for the same as the other days. I also bought 2 goats for KES 8000.00 to start raring some livestock at home. Since it was a drought season, I kept the remaining amount for the family upkeep."

"The biggest difference that is vivid at my home is the presence of livestock. Initially, I had some goats but they all died of the drought that affected our area. I was not sure how I would replace the dead goats bearing in mind that a homestead without livestock incomplete in our traditional setup. I am grateful to GiveDirectly for enabling me to restore the goats' glory that I thought was gone completely."