"I have always wanted to have better furniture for my will use some of the money to buy that and also use some to pay school fees for my children"

"It's important for a family to own cattle, especially dairy cows because we use milk at our home frequently. When we didn't have any, we had to buy milk at KES 40 a litre. This is why I was so happy to spend KES 38,000 of the transfer on buying one. I have saved the remaining KES 16,700. I plan on using it to purchase a calf, that I could sell whenever I need money."

"What has been most exciting about receiving this cash transfer is the purchase of a dairy cow. Before, we didn't have one. We, therefore, had to buy milk at KES 40 a litre every morning. This was not financially sustainable for us, because I earn just KES 500 a day from the shop. So it was a huge relief to receive this donation and acquire the cow. We can now save the money we would spend on buying milk and use it to meet other needs."

"I'm always worried what my kids will eat the next day because food is hard to find here."

"I spent almost the whole of my transfer in settling my three children's school fees arrears because I did not want any of them to stay at home and it cost a total of KES45000. I did this, especially for my son who is in his final year at the university who owed them KES25000, because he is the eldest and will be a good example and beacon of hope to his younger siblings. He will, as well, be a pillar of support to me because I believe that with his level of education he stands a good chance of getting employed and come to help me take care of the others and even address some of the challenges that we will face in the future. I also spent KES5000 to buy two goats because apart from the investment in education, goats are also another investment because they will grow and multiply and I will be able to sell one or two in the future and address the particular financial challenge I will face."

"Lacking food is the biggest challenge I'm facing now because I fail to manage to get money"

"I am a father of one depending on subsistence farming and casual jobs to provide for my family. I got married ten years ago and my primary role has been taking care of my family. Food and my child's education have been my priority. I am so thankful my parents have been there for us whenever we are stuck. I have lived buying or being given milk for my entire marriage life. This has been costly to me and also been ashamed of leaning on my parents all along. To me, receiving this money means independence. I am planning to use KES 35000 to buy a dairy cow. I prefer this since it is an added asset in my family. In addition, I will have milk from my farm this will help me cut the daily expenditure and reduce the shame of depending on my old parents. I thank GiveDirectyly for the support they have given my family. I will keep the offspring to depend on in case of any unplanned financial crisis in our home."

"I was so happy when I received the money because it was a lot of cash, an amount that I have never received ever since I was born. I was so grateful since I knew I was going to get the things that I desired but had no means and ability to get them."

"I gave KES15000 to my three children to equally share amongst themselves, to get the personal items that they needed because as their parent, it is my responsibility to get them the personal items especially for my two daughters still in school. I was not able to get them the personal items before because I neither have nor engaged in any reliable income-generating activity which used to give me so much stress but ever since I got enrolled in this GiveDirectly program and getting the money, I was able to offer my children the care they deserve which makes me a very proud parent. I also spent KES10000 to settle my daughter-in-law's dowry debt because we owed our in-laws and in our culture, it is a sign of goodwill between the two families when we settle such debts. Therefore, I am as well a very proud mother-in-law because I know my son cannot be blamed or bad-mouthed because of owing his in-laws."

"An additional dairy cow worth KES 35000 to my herd as well as reduced school fees arrears burden is what receiving this money means to me. I have 3 children in secondary school and I usually pay a total of KES 90000 school fees annually. This money will therefore help my clear part of this amount."