"I am a widow and my husband died ten years ago. I have three daughters and they were all married. I am now living alone. My work is do make charcoal and sell it at Ganze market. I earn approximately KES 3000 per month. This only caters to food. My husband did not leave behind any investment. In an event of an emergency then I depend mostly on neighbors. I will use KES 90000 to buy 30 goats as an investment. This will help me in the future. I will also use KES 20000 to buy one bed, a mattress and food respectively. I am grateful for Givedirectly because my living standard will improve."

"After receiving the money I first decided to buy a cooking pot for KES 400 and food storage bowls also worth KES 400, this is because I barely had any of these material in my kitchen and on most occasions I had to go ask my neighbours with their cooking pots in order for me to prepare a meal. It was embarrassing most times and such and inconvenience on both ends because at times my neighbours were in need of their own items. Soon as I was done buying the pot, I went on and used KES 1,560 and bought a bag of maize that contained a dozen packets because there was barely any food in the house since I had not been making enough money from making charcoal as I normally did. I was left with KES 640 which I used to pay a veterinary doctor who came to vaccinate my goats."

"I am glad that through the transfer, I purchased livestock which I could not afford to buy at my own cost. Currently, I have three chickens and a goat which I am keeping on my homestead. I am aged and cannot do any manual work thus having livestock is my financial security. Once they reproduce and increase in number, I can readily sell the offspring in case a financial need crops up. The transfer also enabled me to buy enough food for my family. I have been relying on my son's support but he is currently sick and indisposed. He is unable to work anymore and has a big family to take care of. I am happy that I was able to assist him in providing for the family."

"I own a water tap in my compound but water tends to run out of our taps for more than two weeks this makes me buy it at a higher price using motorbikes. I intend to buy a water tank where I can store water and sell it at a higher price to others who need it. I have one child in secondary school I will pay his school fees to give him ample time because I believe education is the key to success. I will also buy mattresses for the children to have comfort. For the remaining amount, I will buy food and one goat to rear."

"I started goat rearing business and during the Muslim festive season my business was at it's peak season. I sold most of my male goats,how I wished I had more to sell. This brought joy to my life seeing my business growing."

"Over the December holidays, I received some orders for making new dresses for Christmas celebration. I made good money. I used part of this money to pay for my child's education and planned part of it for food stock in my house. I bought two goats to keep in my house as wealthy. What gives me joy and happiness is that one of my goats had given birth to a she lamb and I believe they will multiply."

"I spent KES 40,000 from my first transfer on buying building materials for constructing a new house. I had been living in a singled roomed house together with my 5 children. Due to high occupancy, the house looked too squeezed although we had to bear with the situation because we never had an option. I am so glad that the current house has three rooms, one specifically set apart for my children. Since I was relying on quarrying activity characterized by delayed payment, paying fees became hard. I, therefore, paid school fees of KES 5,000. In addition, I bought a goat for KES 2,000 with the anticipation of raising livestock. Lastly, I bought food with a balance of KES 8,000."

"About five years ago, I built a modern timber-framed walled and Iron roofed house but ran short of money to cement the floor and ceil it. So when I received my transfers, I used 80% of it on the purchase of construction materials like sand, gravel, cement, and ceiling boards. These have enabled me to upgrade the mud floor to a cemented one and cell it. As a result, the house is more comfortable than before and my grand kids love it. Secondly, I spent KES 7,000 on two goats. This is because they reproduce twice a year and can be sold when in a financial crisis. Thirdly, I bought a pair of rubber shoes at KES 300. Lastly, I spent KES 4,000 on a bag of maize of which the remaining will sustain me for the next week only. Earlier, to get food, I depend on small-scale farming of maize and vegetable farming and weaving baskets."

"I used KES 35000 to buy a dairy cow and used KES 8000 to buy maize for consumption and used another KES 5000 to pay school fees for my son and used another KES 3000 to seek medication for an ailment that befell me. I was left with KES 5000 that I used to buy a goat to add onto my flock. For a long time I did not have a cow of my own having bought one in the past but which accidentally died and left me with nothing to help my family. I am so happy that I was able to buy to he dairy cow that I bought and that this dairy cow shall be of great help to me in terms of boosting my finances and helping in general wellbeing of my family."

"As a result of the low availability of casual jobs, I had not been having a steady source of income since the beginning of the year. A situation that subjected me to being unable to pay school fees for my children hence accumulated fee arrears. Therefore when I received my first transfer, I was able to spend KES 20,000 on clearing the fee arrears. In addition, I spent KES 5,000 on buying a goat and I am glad that currently, I own one. Since I have not been having a pit latrine, I decided to use a portion of my transfer to initiate building one. This will save my image from the neighborhood which had begun complaining whenever we share their pit latrine. Lastly, I spent KES 7,500 on buying food and KES 3,600 on buying a mattress 3,600. Basically, my life has positively changed courtesy of the transfer."