"I am a single mother of two. I separated from my husband a little over a year ago. When this happened, he declared that he's not interested in neither his children nor me. This broke my heart because I hoped to talk about the issues at hand and get back together. I did not feel the need to force myself into the unwanted marriage, therefore, I came back home. Now that I've been forced to take up the responsibility of my two children, this money form give directly will help me boost my mandazi business. I will save most of my savings and source for classic second-hand clothes to start a thrift store. Income from a few businesses will help me raise my babies comfortably."

"Right after high school, I thought to try my luck in the big cities. I was gallivanting between Mombasa, Nairobi, and Kisumu, not in search of entertainment but search of a good job. When I realized how difficult it is to find a decent job without a degree or at least a diploma, I threw in the towel and came back to the village. Oh! What a mistake! Being here has been worse. I have no job, no money, I feel like my life is flushing right inform of my eyes. I have dreams of a good corporate job like being an engineer but the resources to get there feel like biting more than I can chew. How sad does that make me feel? Very sad."

"Receiving this Money will help me in so many ways firstly building a nice house cause my house is old and as cracks all over and with these rains I was really scared but with the program I will be able to build a better house.i also plan on buying food and fertilizer so I can farm"

"I used to farm and harvest enough food to take us through the drought season but with the prolonged drought, it has been two years since we had good harvest season. This has made food prices to hike and we can hardly afford two meals a day."

"Prolonged drought is the mother of all these challenges that I am facing. I am in a polygamous setup and I have to take family responsibly for my three kids since my husband is now old and unproductive. Before the drought, I used to sell firewood to earn living, ever since the drought started, the demand for firewood went down since many people who used to cook three meals a day now cook one or two meals. Previously, I used to sell 10 bundles a day where one was going for Ksh 100 nowadays, the price and demand has gone down and I can only sell three bundles on a good day with one going for Ksh 30. With this amount, I can't afford to buy food, water and pay for school fees. It's been a struggle to get at least one meal a day, yesterday we slept hungrily and I'm yet to know what I will give my kids in the evening. Receiving this money means I will be able to cater to the basic needs of my family."

"I have desired to have a good house where I don't have fear of being rained on, bitten by snakes at night and roof carried away by the wind. I had given up on this dream since I'm now old and not in a position to build a permanent house. When your fellow officer visited me for the first time during the census, I felt a certain relief because I knew I was about to fulfill my dreams. There is hardware in my neighborhood and I'm planning to buy the building materials on credit and thereafter repay the debt with the monthly transfers that I will be receiving."

"As much as I have wanted to start a second-hand clothes business, I have stuck to charcoal burning because I have not been in a position to raise enough capital to start the business. It usually takes 15 days for you to be able successfully to burn and sell charcoal. Since this area is very dry and hence no few trees, the maximum number of bags that you can harvest from one burn is 3 sacks whereby one goes for Ksh 800. This amount is never enough to pay school fees, buy food and cater for other family responsibilities. With this money, I'm planning to save the first six months transfers towards starting the business."

"Givedirectly has empowered less fortunate people in our community to start building decent houses in our community. Givedirectly system is transparent and doesnot segregate among people. GiveDirectly staffs are well trained , they are very respectful to recipients. Givedirectly doesnot need any area of improvement in.my opinion. I really appreciate GiveDirectly for empowering poor people in Liberia."

"I bought 2bundles of zinc to start renovating my house. I don't have mattress in my room . I used some of my.transfer to buy 21 inches strong mattress to avoid sleeping on the mat. I used the balance money to pay two of my children school fees and they are happily in school."

"GiveDirectly is doing good by giving us money to help ourselves. It is because of their program that some of us own somethings like materials or business that we never had before."