"Accessing clean water in our area is the main challenge that I am currently facing in my life. This is because we depend on water pans which of now have dried up. To get 20 liters, I am forced to walk a distance of 7 kilometers where I also have to queue for about 2 hours before my 1 jerrycan gets filled."

"Food insecurity is the main challenge that I am currently facing in my life. This is because I depend on charcoal burning as my source of income which is not reliable at the moment due to the scarcity of trees. This has forced us to skip meals something that has affected my school-going children when they go to school hungry. Their performances have been low and I always feel this has been contributed by the lack of enough food."

"Financial instability has been the challenge that I am currently facing. Considering my tailoring business which is not reliable again, I have failed to support my 5 children in paying their school fees which is 6000 KES per term. This has stressed me a lot since I am worried that their performances will not be good."

"The biggest difference in my daily life is the boost I have gotten after buying a cow. A lot has been made easier as I am no longer buying milk daily as I used to do, and my saving plan has also been revived since I have been able to put aside some part of the returns after selling some liters of milk every evening. I am grateful to GiveDirectly for coming in as I was struggling a lot to a point I was almost losing hope."

"It was around 9 am when I received a message on my phone. On an immediate check-up since I was curious to know who might have sent me one that morning. To my surprise, it was a message from GiveDirectly bearing the good news I had been expecting. At that moment, I was planting maize on my farm and could see my neighbors running around trying to withdraw while others needed to confirm from their family friends whether they had received the same amount. Since I had all plans in place, withdrawing immediately was not necessary for me, so I kept working till midday when I got back home to prepare lunch for my children who were coming back from school. We shared the joy after informing them that even though the elder one could not believe it until I showed him my account balance. I withdrew after a week as I was anticipating the market day where I withdrew and purchased a cow right there."

"Currently, I have not spent any cent of my transfer because I'm waiting on my wife to report the amount to her. She has travelled to Monrovia for family purpose and she's expected soon. When she comes, we both will start to implement our plan. But the transfer will be sent on business or house materials as it's our family priority."

"I have a seven-month-old baby. On a daily, I have to walk over 10 kilometers in search of water with him strapped on my back. There is no one at home to leave him with. At the end of the day, I'm too tired to even cook for my other 4 children and take care of laundry and the house in general. What's devastating is, this does not look like it's ending any soon. May God help us."

"This drought has brought us to a point where we can not afford to even feed our children. Most days we are only able to make one meal. Sometimes we all go to bed hungry. As a parent, I feel horrible when my children look at me expectantly but I know for certain they'll sleep hungry. Communicating the same to them is even worse, sometimes I just prefer to watch them fall asleep one by one as I pretend to be looking for something to cook."

"When I got news about Give Directly and the help they'll bring, my heart leaped with joy. I have a construction project that has stalled. My plan is o take up a loan of Ksh. 30,000 and start a grocery business with part of the money then push the construction with what will remain. When this money starts coming in, I'll pay off the loan with Ksh. 2,000 every month until I finish. If the business picks up well, I can work towards paying more money every month but commit more funds to the unfinished house so that I can settle my family."

"I am glad that this help has come to us. My husband works very hard as a mason. He provides for our 4 children and me to the best of his ability. Given that I do not possess any formal education, my chances of getting a decent job are next to impossible. It's also very difficult to get odd jobs as a woman here in the village. This money will help to boost my husband's income and now we can budget it accordingly to cater to food and the children's school fees."