"With my family of five, fetching enough water every day from the river - far away from our village - has been so hard. This had been my responsibility as all my children are still schooling and only come home late in the evening. Ensuring that I avail enough water to enhance their cleanliness and also for the home use has been a struggle, and a day hardly goes by without a prayer for a breakthrough that will enable us to get easy access to a water source. Upon receiving the first transfer, my first call was to obtain a large water tank that will be collecting rainwater conveyed by the gutters set beneath the edge of the roof. With the hiked prices at the market at the moment, I managed to secure a 3000-liter plastic tank at KES22500. I am setting it up at the moment as I await the onset of rain. I also had to obtain a sewing machine that I had been hoping to purchase after completion of my tailoring course two years ago. This has so far given me a chance to start a home-based sewing business that has given me hope of seeing it grow to give my family an extra source of income. I am glad that even though I got a second-hand machine at KES18000, I have gotten approvals from other tailors that it is one of the best that may not be in the market at the moment. With the remaining amount, I managed to improve my farm operations after buying certified seeds, clothed my three children, and also obtaining foodstuff for my household."

"The main challenge on my house is hunger, as someone living in the village compared to people in towns and city we solely depend on nsima as our heavy and sole meal. But it is hard to find enough money to buy maize as now prices keep on hiking everyday."

"I managed to get electricity from the government for the last mile connectivity, A primary school called Kurmana primary school was constructed also in the last 6 months, these are the reasons why I have had joy in the last six months. I was using a kerosene lamp to light my house, the smell of paraffin and prices had gone so high that had resulted in using firewood and a source of light. God has been great I now press a button and everywhere is bright in the house."

"Imagine having four children in school; two in secondary and two in the university, yet the only source of livelihood in this family is dairy farming! Worst of all is the low prices that come with selling milk, that is KES 120 from selling 3 liters of milk daily. This is the biggest challenge we face in this family. Our alternative source of income is maize and beans farming, yet the prolonged droughts in this region have resulted to poor land productivity hence low yields. We have been forced to sell our livestock on many occasions to support our children's education."

"Receiving this money will help me so much cause I plan on reviving my business I run a small tea shop but due to the rising prices of goods I was unable to carry on with the business but with this opportunity I will be able to get the business started"

"I spent KES.30000 on solar lighting which has brought light into our lives. We have been using kerosene lamps for a long time which has not been cost-efficient since the increase in fuel prices. Solar light has also reduced the amount of smoke we inhale and strain in our bodies. The children can now do their homework with ease. The rest of the money remaining was KES.23,150. I used it in the continuation of the construction of my home. This money has made my dreams come true and for that, I cannot begin to express the gratitude I have towards Give directly."

"Living with my family of 7 under a small roof was a bit of a challenge since my children who are all schooling needed at least some space every evening to do their studies, and also a spacious room to sleep separately from us. It has been our prayer as a family to one day get facilitated so that we can construct a bigger house that could give room for all that. On receiving the first transfer, the construction of a new house was a priority. It was unfortunate that all the shops selling construction materials hiked their prices knowing that most of the buyers received the transfers. I managed to obtain 28 iron sheets, frames, nails, and building poles at KES34000, and later paid the labor cost at KES 6000. I am glad that the construction work is at its final stages and will soon be moving in so that I can demolish the old one and construct another new kitchen with the same materials. With the remaining amount, I managed to obtain clothing, school pairs of shoes for my children, and also foodstuff for the household."

"Receiving this money to me means that I will be able to achieve my dream of either becoming a mechanic or a tailor. I already found out the prices and they are quite fair. To learn tailoring it's 20000 Malawi kwacha so it's attainable. On the other hand I will maintain my house because as you can see it is in shambles. I don't want to burden my mother with raising my baby."

"The challenge that I am currently facing is food insecurity as a result of prolonged drought. It has been three years since we received ample rains in the area. This has led to high prices of food stuff as well as water scarcity. A packet of maize meal sells at KES 100 while a jerican of water is KES 40. In a day, I needs KES 300 to feed my family of nine members. This has been a stumbling block to achieving the education of my children because most of the earnings from charcoal production KES 2400 per month goes into buying food and water."

"If I am bless to receive cash transfer from Givedirectly, I intend to start a business to support my children in school because they don't have a father to shoulder their education responsibility anymore and use the remaining to repair my house. Since my husband passed off in 2017, I have been the only sole provider for the children with no one else to help. Even though I am doing small business, that is, I buy coal and take it to Monrovia to sell that help me generates small profit to cater to the children school, but it's not enough to pay school fees and buy food for the family. This made it possible for the children to stay in school but David Sherman, my first son graduated from high school since 2007 and started college before their father demise. He was forced to dropped out of college so that the little income I generate from the business can be used for his younger siblings tuition fees. Expanding the business has been my greatest desires, but due to the lack of money I am unable to expand the business, and that should any losses comes as a result of fall in prices, it will greatly affect me and the children. Any kind of assistance that Givedirectly can provide me that will help improve me and my family lives will be highly appreciated."