"The happiest part of my day is mid morning.During this time,I take my cow out to graze and water it.This makes me happy because I enjoy doing this and it is my biggest source of income to meet all our household needs"

"Lack of alternative sources of income has been the biggest hardship in life. At the moment, we survive on casual jobs and charcoal burning businesses which in most instances cannot generate enough income to adequately sustain the family's needs. Since we buy everything from food to water, it is very constraining and as a result, we have compromised on other important things like education and better health care for our children. Most of them have schooled lowly due to a lack of fees. Even the house that we live in, - it is very tiny and cannot accommodate all of us comfortably. Therefore, these transfers will be a big relief for the family."

"I spent part of my first transfer on buying some building materials like twenty pieces of iron sheet, building poles some nails. I wanted a new house because the previous one was in bad condition and very small. Whenever it could rain it rained on me which was so stressing. I then bought a bed and a matress. I had been sleeping on an old mat which was very uncomfortable. I never longed for the night to fall because I could never have a good night's sleep. When I woke up, my whole body could ache. This changed. Because of the frequent droughts we experience here in my village, I also decided to purchase a water tank for water reservoir purposes, two goats for rearing and clearing hospital bills for my son who was admitted sometime back and I had not settled the bill for lack of money. Thanks to GiveDirectly."

"I spent part of my first transfer on paying school fees for my children who are in secondary school. Since the beginning of the year, I had never remitted any amount in their school accounts because of my low and unstable financial capability. This interfered with their studies as they could attend classes irregularly and miss lessons most of the time, and with their fees paid, at least they were able to get back to their books in time. I then bought a bicycle so that my son would help us with fetching water as the dams are far away from our village and getting water on our heads was tiring and took time. We could not also fetch much given that one person can only carry one jerrican at a time. With the bicycle, we can carry at least three jerricans of water in one trip. That has changed too. The remaining amount went to starting a new business alongside my fish mongering business I was running before. I vend vegetables which enable me to meet my family needs with more ease as more profits are coming in."

"Being a house wife my mornings and afternoon hours are always busy portion of my day. This is because, it is at this time that I perform my household activities like fetching water and collecting firewood. In the evening, I usually have enough time to relax and have chats with my family members. Hence, I consider evening as the happiest part of my day."

"Receiving this money will see me improve my mud walled house into semi permanent plywood wall. This is going to cost approximately Kshs 20,000 (200usd) of my first transfer. I came to this resolve because maintaining a mud-walled house is a costly affair compared to wood because mud wears off every time it rains and would require replacement. I am going to spend another 20,000 KES (200 usd) to purchase 5 head of sheep at Kshs 4,000 each. When maize farming fails due to the harsh climate and children require fees, food and clothing, this investment is going to become a source of income that will keep my family above water. Sheep are a store of wealth that multiply in a short time. This my contingency plan for the rainy days. "

"As a farmer the hardships I experience are mainly due to the frequent dry climatic conditions.During the dry season I face a lot of challenges.One is lack of clean water for domestic use and also for the cattle.I am usually forced to go and fetch water 5 km away.I carry using my back or pay for motorcycle transport (Ksh 50) per trip.This is usually very costly.The second challenge during the dry season is lack of feeds for the cattle and little harvest.At the end of it our income is limited and satisfying the family's basic needs becomes a big challenge."

"My new or additional goal for my life for the next four months is to buy sand and cement so that I plaster my house. I am staying in a house that the floor is dusty and at times when it rains the water from underground penetrates out wetting the floor. During heavy rains it worsens, the floor gets flooded, you might think I stay in a river."

"My family has been living in a one-room grass-thatched house that served as our kitchen, bedroom and living room. This house could not accommodate us comfortably and we used to take outside some items at night. When I received my first transfer, my priority was to build a decent spacious house for my family. For this reason, I spent half of the money to buy some building materials majorly iron sheets, poles, nails to use in building a house for my family and also paid a mason for this work. Also, I used some amount on farming by hiring a tractor to till my farm, bought some maize and bean seeds and hired workers to help me with the planting work. I bought a water tank with a storage capacity of 1000 liters to use in storing water for domestic use. I used the remaining amount to buy beddings, foodstuffs, and clothes for my family."

"My life is currently different from how it was four months ago because l am now staying in a nice spacious comfortable house in my own compound where I do not need to woke up in the middle of the night to put things in a safe place. I am also able to get fresh clean water without to much struggle as compared to before."