"I spent half of my transfer in buying food and water for my own home use. Because of the lack of rain in our area, we no longer get food directly from our farms. We have to buy food from the shops and at very high prices. Getting water for use at home has become a challenge. I have to walk for long distance of over 60 km to find water. Because of the tiresome journey of walking back and forth in search of water, I always opt to buy from the water vendors, but at very high prices. Besides buying food and water, I spent KSH 500 to clear some debts. Lack of a source of income made me to incur some debt which eventually I had to pay. I then spent the remaining amount of KSH 1000 in paying school fees arrears for my three children who were at home due to fee balances. I am happy that they went back to school, continued with their studies and did their exams too."

"Food insecurity is the most pinching challenge I am currently facing. I am a father of 6 children. Doing manual jobs does not earn me enough to abundantly provide them with food. After clearing someone's farm, I get just about 1000 KES per week. With the rising food prices, 4,000 KES is insufficient to sustain my family for a full month."

"The house I am currently living in is in a poor state. It is bending towards the ground, hence making it unsafe for my family to live in. My husband sells palm wine in the village. His earnings are very little because of the little palm wine he harvests from the coconut trees. The ongoing drought has partly affected the harvest in our area. I earn a living through the sale of firewood and currently there are no trees or bushes to fetch firewood from because of the drought. With our house almost falling down, I used the money from my transfer to buy poles and build a new and spacious house that will accommodate the eight members of my family. Because of the poor financial state we are in together with my husband, I bought food in bulk. I bought six packets of maize flour, 2kg of sugar, tea leaves, 2 kg of beans, 2 kg of rice and two jerricans of fresh water for home use. Water is hard to find and we have to buy it from water vendors at very high prices of KSH 50 per 20 liter jerricans."

"I was going on my farm when I received the transfer at that time my children had just been sent out of class, I started to give thanks and prices to the Almighty God for GiveDirectly families."

"I do not have a stable source of income, this is making it hard for me to support my family's needs such as food, clothing, and even paying family bills. I usually earn about KES 300 from my job which is not enough to budget for family needs. Above all, food is being sold at exorbitant prices in our area. This makes life even harder."

"Finances are limited at the moment. The cost of living has risen especially with the hike in fuel prices. I am a motorcycle taxi driver and this has hit my industry hard. A couple of months back I would make a profit of 1000 KES, today 500 KES is a challenge. These days I sleep on an empty stomach at least thrice a week. This situation has demoralized my efforts to work but I encourage myself that better days are ahead."

"I am financially strained. Every day I set aside 310 KES to pay off the motorcycle I took on hire purchase. I earn about 500 KES daily and when I do not meet this target I get frustrated. The calls I get when I miss a payment are the worst. This instills a lot of stress on my end. Currently, the industry has been affected by the hike in fuel prices. To make ends meet I increase the transport prices but this is not welcomed by my customers and they opt to be ferried by vehicles. It affects my productivity and I am forced to bear the extra cost that comes with the rise in fuel."

"Few days after receiving the money I fell ill. I had severe chest pains which made me weak and I visited the hospital to get medical attention. I spent KSH 600 in buying medicine and paying for the medical bill in the hospital. Because of the current drought conditions, I no longer work on my farm and I have to buy all the food from the shops and at very high prices. Finding water is very hard and we have to buy it from water vendors at very high prices. Because of these challenges, I spent KSH 1400 in buying both food and water. To crown it all, I started a kiosk business that has made me self-employed and I am happy that from it I earn a living."

"I am a widow and the only breadwinner in my family. My eldest son completed his secondary education and is yet to join college to continue with his education. I am not financially stable because I do not have a job. I have been surviving by working on manual jobs such as burning charcoal for sale. The little I earn is only enough to feed my family and I have nothing left to save or even take my children to school. When I received my transfer, I saved KSH 1000 of the money in a Chama. Through the Chama, I will get a loan and pay the required amount to enroll my son into college. I then spent the remaining amount of money in buying maize flour, sugar, beans, tea leaves, washing detergent and water. Because of the drought, it’s challenging to harvest food from the farm and I have to buy all the food from the shop and water at very high prices."

"For every farmer, the drought that's upon us is the biggest challenge. Our livestock has almost nothing to feed on. I am afraid that we shall have to sell them at low prices or watch them die one by one, just like last year."