"I am a single mother of 3. I struggle alot to make ends meet, I engage in grocery business in the nearby Chebunyo market. Life has been so hard for me to fend for my children.I was able to make some savings that enabled me to buy this small piece of land of 0.1 acres at KES 40000.I had borrowed KES 18000 from my uncle to add on what I had to purchase the land,I am still struggling in repaying the debt. I so excited that this help has come at such a time like this, the outstanding debt I have have been giving me sleepless nights, when I receive this money I will not hesitate for a moment but to pay the debt and use the remaining amount to build an iron roofed house."

"Food insecurity is the biggest concern that my family is facing at the moment. Being a small farm where I earn approximately KES 6400 per season from my maize crops which I have always managed to harvest 2sacs mostly, this takes 4months to harvest per season also the production depends on the availability of rains in the area. With the high cost of living, my earning is too little to cater for all the family needs like education, food, and clothing."

"I face school fees challenges. From the little I get from in-house hairdressing, I pay school fees for my son who is in form two and my late brother's son too. The burden is too heavy to bear and it worries me alot if my son will eventually complete schooling."

"Receiving this money means better housing for my family. Currently, we stay in a mud house which is dusty and also it gets so muddy during rainy seasons. The walls a made of timber which is easily getting old because of rains. I will use bricks to raise the walls halfway, then the upper part will remain with timber. This will not only take care of the damage by rains but also reduces the workload of smearing the floor weekly. It will cost me KES 15,000. For the rest of the amount, I plan to construct a separate kitchen that will act as a kitchen as well as a room for my young children to be sleeping."

"Food insecurity is a challenge. We live in a semi-arid area with inconsistent rainfall patterns which has rendered our farms unproductive. This has also caused an infestation of crops with diseases, particularly maize that we hardly harvest a bag of it at the end of the season. As a result, we solely rely on food purchase which is quite expensive due to their inadequacy in the area."

"The main challenge is food insecurity. We have a small piece of farm, with most of the periods throughout the year being dry. We hardly harvest maize ( which is our staple food) that can last us a year. Most of the time, we purchase from the market costing KES 100 per day. It is very costly for us, as sometimes we go without dinner for lack of money. My husband has been unwell for some time now, so he cannot work and needs a lot of attention and financial expenses."

"I was left to care for my three children after I lost my husband years ago by selling vegetables every day at a nearby center. Life has not been easy since the profit that I earn (KES 300) daily is not enough to buy food and pay school fees. Receiving this money will give me joy and relief since I will be able to pay school fees for my two children in secondary school and buy a cow that will provide milk for sale and consumption at home."

"I spent part of my transfer completing the building of my house and those of my two sons. I built new houses and in a new location because of the challenges we have been experiencing over the years. Our houses were in a valley and during the rainy season, the water would submerge them in the still water that accumulated at the bottom. Once this happened, we would be homeless, lack food and even lose some of our property. It is for this reason that we moved to higher ground and avoid all the trouble. Besides building the houses, I spent much of the money amounting to KES 20000 to pay medical bills for my dearest husband. For close to 30 years, my husband could not work because of some chilling pains under his belly and at the back. Because of our poor financial state, he has never gotten serious medical attention and receiving this money provided a wonderful opportunity for him to get the medical attention he needed. Lastly, I spent the remaining amount in buying three 90Kg sacks of maize, 5Kgs of sugar, 3 loaves of bread, 6 Kgs of beans, Fruits and other foodstuff for my family (Husband and three children). I became the only bread winner after my husband fell ill and I have been burning woods and selling charcoal to earn a living. I earn KSH 200 per day which is not enough o feed my entire family and also take care of medical expenses for my husband. Receiving the money ensured that I bought food in bulk and ensure I had plenty to eat."

"Currently, I am a stay-at-home parent because I have no job while my husband works as a motorcycle rider, “boda boda”. He does not own the motorcycle, so he has to work very hard to earn for himself and pay the owner his daily rates for using it. This has proved very challenging because what he earns after remitting the daily dues is very little about KES 200, which is only enough to buy food for the family. Upon receiving my second transfer, I spent much of the amount in repairing the roof of my house. I replaced the thatched house (Makuti) which was leaking during the rainy season with durable iron sheets. I then spent part of the remaining transfer to improve the houses of my two sons. The bare dusty floors of their houses affected their health during the night while sleeping. Besides repairing their houses, I bought some new mattresses for them because sleeping on a mat on the floor was resulting in constant back and chest pains for the two. Last, I spent the remaining amount to buy a secondhand motorcycle for my husband. This will free him from the chains of being employed and paying daily charges for using another person’s motorcycle. The improved earnings will cater to our daily needs, save and invest it in other income-generating projects."

"I have been facing a lot of challenges among them paying school fees for my three children who are in college and three others who are still in primary school. I do not have a job and rely on doing casual jobs such as building houses, fetching water for other people for pay and also tilling other people’s land for pay. The jobs I get are not daily and I sometimes spend two to three days at home getting no job. Upon receiving my transfer, I spent a huge portion of it in clearing school fee debts for my three children who are in college. My daughter is taking a tailoring course, my son is in a driving school and the other is undertaking an electrical course. I could not pay their school fees because of the meagre amount of income that I was earning. Besides paying the school fees, I spent KES 10000 to pay off dowry for my eldest son. As a requirement in our culture, the bridegroom has to clear off the dowry before they grant him the full rights to name the children after his own relatives. Paying the dowry ensured my son fulfilled part of his obligation as required in our culture. Lastly, I spent the remaining amount of money in buying food my family (Wife, six children). My family has enough to eat and we are no longer worried about having to skip meals or sleeping on empty stomachs."