"Lack of water for domestic consumption and for livestock is the biggest challenge I am facing. Currently, one 20 litre jerrican of water goes for 50KES. My family's water consumption stands at five 20Litre jerricans of water a day while my livestock water consumption stands at seven 20 litre jerricans of water a day. That means I am forced to spend 650KES daily on water forget about other needs such as food and clothing. This has posed a great threat to my livestock and I'm worried they might die any day from now."

"I am yet to come to terms with the fact that I don't have a house and I live on a borrowed house. At my age, this has really lowered my self-esteem. My house collapsed 11 months ago and I have been unable to put up a new one up to date. GiveDirectly is the saviour and it came right at the hour of need. Receiving the transfers means I will soon own a house. I am planning to use 50,000KES to construct a spacious two bedroom semi-permanent house for my family. One room will be for my husband and I while the other room will be reserved for visitors who might come to check on us. My grandchildren can also sleep in this room when there is no visitors. I will use a further 30,000KES to buy two cows and an ox-plough for subsistence farming. I currently use the traditional farming methods such as the use of a hoe. This has proven unproductive because with a hoe, I can only manage 2 bags of maize every season. With the ox-plough, I'm assured of producing 10 bags of maize every season and this can sustain my family for a whole year."

"I have been living under a leaking roof for the past 2 years. In addition to this, the walls of my house have some cracks which are now life-threatening. We live in a pathetic house which can collapse anytime from now. In addition to this, the roof is leaking making the house unlivable especially during the rainy seasons. I'm planning to use 60,000KES to construct a specious and a decent three bedroom house for my family of four. One room will host my children, the other room for my husband and I, and the third room for any visitor who might come to pay us a visit. I will use a further 30,000KES to buy three beds and three mattresses for my family. Getting my house done will earn me the reputation I have always desired in the village."

"The closure of my kiosk was the beginning of misery and suffering in my family. Food insecurity is now a norm because affording the normal three meals a day has been almost impossible. I currently don't have any reliable source of income that can assure me money to sustain my family of four with enough food. Seeing my children sleep without eating anything is becoming unbearable. Sometimes I am forced to get home late to find them asleep so that I don't feel the pain of them asking for food from their mother."

"Imagine sleeping in a house with no door, halfway roofed has got holes everywhere and then surrounded by bush, would you get sleep at Night? With the prolonged drought, everyone longs for rain. Even though I also want it to rain so that I can do farming, whenever it gets cloudy, my mind is never at peace. I do not have to tell you how badly off my house is, it's evident from just looking at it. Being surrounded by bushes and most are the times when we find snakes inside my house. You never know how scared I get every night when I get to lay my kids to sleep. I can say it's by God's mercies they have never been bitten by the snakes. Receiving this money means that I will save towards building a good house and we will live happily after with my kids."

"When I got married, to my husband, he only had one room which serves as the living room, bedroom and kitchen. Our dream has always been to expand our house and add some other two rooms but this has not been possible because of financial constraints. With our grown-up kids, there is no longer privacy in my house. Whenever I need to dress up, I usually get the kids out of the house and this makes me feel unfair to them because it feels like it is my responsibility to add another room. Cooking in the house itself is very dangerous because the room is not spacious enough and well ventilated. I fear someday it will catch fire and I will lose everything that I tirelessly worked for. I'm planning to buy building materials slowly with the monthly transfers up until when they are enough to build a local two-bedroom house."

"I have a daughter who has been epileptic for the last twenty years. This sickness has affected her mental health and she has been fully dependent on me for all her needs. Life has not been easy since she became sick because I can not leave her at home alone. Previously, I used to depend on my husband who was a casual laborer to provide her with medical care and basic needs but now he is old and unproductive. It's been a long since I took them to the clinic because of financial inability and her situation seems to be deteriorating. With this money, I'll l be able to take her to the clinic for frequent checks as required and provide basic needs for my family."

"Paying school fees is the major challenge that I'm facing currently. With six kids in school, I can't afford to clear all their fees arrears at the same time. Sometimes they even spend a whole week out of school and this worries me a lot because it has so far affected their performances."

"I got no energy to do the available manual jobs within my location and therefore I have been dependant on my sons for basic needs. Now that they have got their families to provide for, very little support has been coming from them. Most are the days that we end up sleeping hungry and it has not been easy for us."

"I spent part of the money to pay school fees for my daughter in the University. She was so happy and grateful since this was a challenge for us. I bought building materials and build a better and spacious house for my family. We used to live in a small house which could not host all my family members. The rest of the money I bought food and clothes for my children. I am so grateful because GiveDirectly has enabled us to live a better life than before. Were it not GiveDirectly all this could not have happened."