"Receiving this money will enable us to attain a stable source of income. I am a peasant farmer while my husband is into house construction. Presently, his job is not doing very well since most people are not building due to shortage of water.In a month the most that he has been making is ksh.5000. This amount is has never been enough to balance between buying food,paying school fees and buying other school items like books,pens,uniforms etc for all our 6 children. With this money, my husband will invest ksh.50,000 in starting general shop business in Mombasa where as I will invest ksh.15,000 to buy a cow and ksh.38,000 in purchasing two oxen and the ox plough to help me improve my farming. "

"After constructing our houses and solving the water problem which we initially had, we are currently feeling good that everything has been easy and can even lay down other plans. Currently, we have an additional goal to start a savings plan towards payment of our daughter's school fees who will be sitting for her national exams this year. We are now getting prepared to start her off in her first year in secondary school since we are sure of the increased payment which we will be making as she move to the next level."

"Lack of alternative employment opportunities has been the biggest hardship in our life. For over 5 years now, my husband has worked as a water vendor in Mombasa, and his daily wage being extremely low (less than $4 a day), and it has been hard for him to find a better job. As a result, sustaining the family's needs is sometimes uneasy. Consequently, we haven't been able to keep our children in school and fee arrears keep accruing every term. Receiving this money will be a relief to us, I will start a small business, preferably a vegetable store within the village."

"Morning is the happiest part of my day. Waking up to a new day is always a nice feeling to me. In the morning, I usually engage in my routine chores in the household, - like cleaning the house, compound and drawing water, thereafter, I embark on looking for food especially vegetables with are hard to find given the prolonged dry seasons witnessed here year in year out. Afternoon is a bit relaxed all through to the evening, but I don't enjoy that much because by that time, I am already exhausted and all I need is rest."

"My life is currently different from how it was four months ago in that I am now living in a decent iron roof house. Before then, I used to have a grass thatched house which was hectic to maintain. I could not also fetch water from my own roof whenever it rain. I had to fetch from a neighbor's roof. I am also proud because I managed to install electricity after saving for some time. I am glad that I no longer use a solar lantern where I had to part with 100 KES every day to avoid being disconnected."

"I spend my mornings in doing my household activities up to 10am and then I travel to the near by town to vend water till 4pm. It is only in the evening that I can relax my body hence I consider it as the happiest part of day."

"For a very long time,we have been struggling with unemployment in our household.Currently I do not have any job and my husband's income from vending water in Mombasa is very minimal. In a day he only makes at most ksh.300. This is hardly enough to fend for his needs and ours back at home. With this money, we plan to change our own fate. We will set up a charcoal selling stall in Mombasa that my husband will be managing. Back at home, we will buy at least two cows and five goats that I will be taking care of as our future investment."

"I am happiest in the morning. when I wake up, I normally feel very energetic to tend to most of my household chores.Since we are experiencing shortage of water, I only manage to go to Bamba town during morning hours before the sun gets too hot to fetch around three jerricans.By afternoon,the weather is usually very hostile and I am always too tired to do anything else.Thus morning hours when I am able to perform all my duties marks the happiest part of my day."

"My life is different in that I am less worried about my children being sent away from school for lack of fees. I am also happy that I am empowered to save part of the money which I get to earn through casual jobs and right now I am planning to buy a water tank. We currently fetch water from quite a distance which is time consuming."

"I have one dairy cow which does not provide enough milk for consumption and for sale.I will therefore use the money from GiveDirectly to buy one more cow.This will boost my income and ensure consistent supply of milk.With one cow there are some seasons which I lack milk and I am forced to buy for consumption.This is usually expensive for me.The cow will cost me Ksh 40,000(400 USD). During the dry season, I have a challenge of getting clean water. I therefore have a plan of buying a water tank costing approximately Ksh 20,000(200 USD). Water from water pans is not safe to use for domestic purposes like cooking.When I harvest rain water during the rainy season,it will help solve the problem."