"While I am a casual worker making a living selling charcoal in the village, my husband is a fisherman. The severe weather that has dried up most of the rivers where my husband goes fishing has put his job in danger. Due to this, I am now the family's sole provider as my husband no longer goes for fishing. I don't make nearly enough money from selling charcoal to support the family's needs, which include paying for food, school expenses, and prescription drugs. We have been forced to skip meals due to the current economic situation because we cannot afford to buy food. Upon receiving my transfers, I spent $15 on buying food for my family. The family's supply of food ran out, and because we had to buy food on credit, we also ran up enormous debts. Finally, I used the $20 to purchase three hens. The hens are an investment for the future because they will quickly multiply in number and double my initial investment."

"I'm working on any available job that comes my way because of the country's deteriorating current economy. I do work related to selling charcoal, fishing, and building homes. All of these jobs have one thing in common: I don't make enough money to support my family on my meager pay. My children are the first to bear the impact whenever I am unable to land a job. Due to significant unpaid school fees, they are frequently expelled. I paid $4 in school fees for my youngest son, who was starting kindergarten this year, when I received my February transfers. With the aid of the Give Directly transfers, I am pleased and confident that I will see my children through to the end of their highest level of education. Last but not least, I bought a goat with the remaining $30. I want them to grow in number so I can eventually sell some and buy some cows, so this is an investment for the future. The market value of the cows is extremely high, which will be economically advantageous for me when I wil be selling them in the market."

"Due to my old age, I do not carry my phone when leaving home. I remember it was around 3 pm when I followed my grandchildren to the river where they were going fishing. Upon returning home, my helper informed me of a message on my phone from GiveDirectly confirming that I had received the first transfer of $550. I was overjoyed and ululated in happiness to learn that the registration was a legit thing since I initially thought it was just a scam like the other organization which came with empty promises."

"I spent $30 from the transfer to buy a goat and increased my herd to nine. From the nine goats, I exchanged six for a cow, which I plan on using for farm work such as ploughing. Besides, leasing the cow out to support farming activities would garner more cash to supplement the little I make from fishing. Having nine children and a wife who count on me, the $8 I make every two days from fishing barely covers their food needs. In fact, last month went for two days without food because I had no money. Am confident such hardships would have been alleviated had I obtained extra cash from a side income source. I spent the remaining amount on school fees for my son who was set to sit for his national examinations this month. Am so grateful because had it not been for Give Directly, I would not have acquired the cow. Moreso, my son would probably not have sat for his exams. No words can express my happiness right now."

"After successfully finishing their primary education last year, two of my children are about to begin their secondary education. Given that I do not make much money from my job as a fisherman, paying for the education of the two and four other children who are still in elementary school is a significant burden for me. I go fishing in a seasonal river, but it's almost dry, which means I'll lose my only source of income. Given the recent decline in charcoal sales, my wife, who sells it, makes a pitiful income. I want to make sure that my children stay in school and concentrate on their education this year. This will be accomplished by providing a favorable environment for their academic pursuits.The most crucial thing is to make sure I pay their tuition on time, and I'm hoping I can do that with the aid of the transfer money."

"Over the last three months, I have used all my entire transfer to improve my food selling business. Before I started receiving funds from GiveDirectly, I used to earn a living through fishing. The rivers in which I have been doing the fishing have since dried up following prolonged droughts and I was forced to think of other ways of earning a living. GiveDirectly funds have been very instrumental in seeing me start up the food store. I have managed to channel all the $90 received over the last three months into this business. I am so happy that the business has gradually improved. Right now, I make up to $8 per day as profit and this has made life for us as a family quite enjoyable. I buy and sell dried up foodstuffs like cereals in a nearby centre. I am looking forward to making the business even better and raising the standards of living for my family. I am a father of three children with one of them already in school and two joining school soon. My desire and hope is to see my children go through school without so much problems like lack of school fees."

"To support my family (wife and three grandchildren), I rely on fishing as a source of income. Because I go fishing every two days, the money I get from this practice is barely enough to cover all basic expenses like food and school tuition for my children. I decided to start keeping cattle to complement my income and afford all household expenses.  These animals will grow and increase in value in the future, providing sufficient income for family demands when I sell them. That is why I utilized the full amount to purchase two goats to start my rearing venture."

"Spending my youthful energy doing very tiresome and odd jobs like charcoal burning and fishing is something that has robbed away my joy. This is because my income is very low and it can not support my needs and those of my aging parents. I always feel so painful knowing that my parents are surviving on the mercies of well-wishers. I, therefore, consider the lack of decent work as my biggest challenge at the moment."

"I spent much of my transfer of KES 2000 on buying a goat. Buying the goat means an investment for the future. Once it multiplies over a period, I will have doubled the amount I invested. I will have the liberty in the future to sell some and use the money to attend to the most pressing needs. Besides buying the goat, I spent the remaining amount of KES 1000 on buying food. I am jobless and depend fully on my husband, who is the breadwinner of the entire family (husband and 6 children). He is a fisherman and was forced to forgo his job and seek greener pastures elsewhere. The river where he goes fishing dried up because of the hot and dry weather existing in our area. This made him jobless for over two weeks before he got another job raising livestock. The pay he gets from his new job is very little (2500 per month) which is not enough to satisfy all the family needs (paying school fees and buying food). We survived on debts from our friends and relatives during the period he was job-hunting. The transfer has helped my family avert a hunger crisis that we have been fighting for long (over two weeks)."

"I dropped out of school in class six out of lack of school fees. After, I went into casual jobs to earn a living and support my siblings. I, later on, joined fishing in a nearby water pan. This is what I have been doing to support my family. It is not a stable source of income since we sometimes just catch one small fish. I earn an average of KES 400 a day. I am happy about this since it has enabled me to build an iron-roofed house and to meet my household's daily basic needs. After getting married ten months ago, I have been struggling to buy a cow. This has not been possible with the overwhelming daily household needs. To me receiving this cash transfer means a dream come true. I am planning to use KES 20000 to buy a heifer. This is an asset to my family and from it will have milk. This will reduce my daily expenditures and we will have enough milk for consumption. This means good health among us and extra earnings from milk sales."