"There was nothing, my business has been going down because order prices of goods and services having been going up at a very fast rate and it has also affected customer flow, most of the people cannot afford to buy some items they have been buying"

"I have a child who is currently in form 2. The school fees we pay per year are KSH 40000. The current fee balance is KSH 20000. I also have three other children who are in classes 6, 3, and 1 respectively. They all cumulatively have a fee balance of KSH 1000. I currently do not have any job. Since the beginning of this year, I lost the only job that I depended on due to the corona pandemic. My husband also depends on manual jobs. The money earned from doing these jobs is not enough to feed the family and also pay school fees for our children. When I received the transfer a huge chunk of the transfer was used to pay school fees for my child who is in secondary school. I spent KSH 2000 paying for that. I also spent KSH 200 purchasing water for my use at home. Due to the persistent drought, water is very hard to find and we have to buy it from water vendors at very high prices. I also spent KSH 500 in paying fees for three children who are in primary school. I use the remaining KSH 300 in buying food for the family."

""I intend to expand by small business that I am doing now to help me raise plenty profit to support my family is I am bless for Givedirectly to send me a cash transfer. At present, I am already doing a small business that is worth 4,000.00 Liberian dollars and that the profit it provides me is not enough to pay for food and the children school fees. More besides, the distance our town is makes it very difficult, if not impossible, that we see basic commodities such as pepper, salt, cube, and other essential household commodities cheaper and accessible. In addition, we have to travel to Karloken or Pleebo, Maryland County to buy these commodities that are sold thrice the original prices. Therefore, starting a business in this direction will be a great help to the entire Taryaken Town because people wouldn't have to walk 5-7 hours to buy these commodities. Therefore, any cash assistance from Givedirectly that will enable me start a business that will bring relief to our town will be greatly appreciated"."

"After the exciting news of the receipt of my first transfer, I had to work on the projects that I had enlisted with my family. On top of the list was to purchase a lactating cow but due to the high prices in the market then, I managed to secure a 3-months in-calf heifer at KES 35000 that I am hoping to start enjoying its productivity in six months. With the two dairy cows that I already had, I am looking forward to an easy time that I will be selling milk to sort all the household bills and the school fees for my children. I also spent KES m18000 of the remaining amount on settling school fees for my two children in secondary school, and the last bit of it on buying foodstuff for my family of seven. I am grateful to this far and looking forward to the second transfer as this will also be useful in starting other new projects."

"Being a dairy farmer in a drought-prone area, my biggest challenge is getting animal feeds. I cover close to 40 kilometers in search of Napier grass and Boma Rhodes grass and they come at expensive prices. I spend KES 250 for every bale and I need like 10 daily. This exposes me to losses because the amount of money I get from the sale of milk is not commensurate with the amount I use to buy the feeds. I milk 25-30 liters every morning which sells at KES 30 per liter earning me KES 800 per day on average."

"I am a mother and my children depend heavily on me for everything. I currently do not have a well-paying job and I have been struggling in terms of putting food on the table for my family. The little I earn from the manual jobs are not sufficient to pay school fees for all my school-going children. When I received the transfer my priority was to pay school fees. So I spent KSH 1000 in paying school fees for my children. I gave each KSH 500. It is a relief for me that they are still in school learning. I also spent a portion of the transfer to buy food for the family. In these difficult times, everything shoots up. The food prices are abnormally high making it very hard for me to afford the food. In addition to paying school fees and buying food, I also started saving so that I can buy a goat. I currently have saved KSH 1000 that I am planning to buy a goat and start rearing."

"I have a three-bedroomed house. The room that my boys live in is in a bad state. Part of the wall is cracked and any little force applied to the wall will bring it down anytime. The roof on the other part is in a poor state. The Makuti used in making the roof was blown away by the wind during the night and we had to invent something to cover the situation in the meantime. We covered the wide-open area with a big black plastic polythene paper. When I received the transfer I ordered some Makuti worth KSH 1500 that will be used to repair the affected part of the roof. In addition, I spent KSH 1000 buying food for the family. I currently don’t have a job and I find it difficult to provide for my family. With the ongoing drought situation in our area getting water for my home use has been very difficult. Due to the difficulties, we opt to buy water at very high prices from the water vendors. I spent KSH 500 purchasing the water."

"The biggest challenge is insufficient finances that are brought about by inconsistent income. The small chicken business that my husband operates is not sustainable as many people around our area also own lots of chicken. If he's lucky to sell, it is with low prices. Sometimes he is forced to track with chicken for more than ten kilometers to a bigger town so that he can fetch better prices"

"I am physically disabled. I live all by myself in the village. I depend heavily on my two sons who are casual laborers in the city. This means that when they do not send me money at times I do spend several days without eating anything. I have always depended on my small farm at the back of my house to grow small food products such as cassava, maize, vegetables, and other foodstuffs. This has not been possible for the past few years and it has made me fully dependent on my sons for my survival. When I received the second transfer I spent a huge portion of the transfer on buying food. The drought situation has made everything expensive and with no food, on my farm, I have to buy everything from the shop. I spent a total of KSH 2500 on buying food. To me, this was the right step to take since my sons had not sent me anything for the last two months and my food stock in the house was almost getting finished. I also spent the remaining KSH 500 in buying water for my use at home. With my condition, I cannot go about fetching water. Water is very hard to find these days and one has to walk for several kilometers to get it cheaply otherwise you have to buy it at very high prices from the vendors."

"I have a daughter who is in a boarding secondary school. Things have been getting tough on me financially and I have not been able to get some money to clear the school fee debt. My daughter owes the school a KSH 12000 debt for this term. Raising this money by myself has proved to be a very difficult thing for me. I currently do not have a job. My other children who are still in primary school also depend on me. My daughter has for the past month been sent home severally to come home and pick school fees. This has also affected her academic performance in school and has left me very stressed about it. Immediately after I received the transfer, I spent KSH 1000 in paying school fees for my daughter. I spent the rest of the amount on buying food for my family. Due to the harsh economic conditions affording to buy food is also very difficult as prices are becoming very high."