"I do casual jobs. This entails weeding people's farms. I am paid KES 300 per day however it is not consistent to get such jobs. The little money I earn from this job is only enough to buy food for my family. I have children in secondary school and iam struggling to pay their school fees. The school owes me KES 10000 for the previous term. A new term has begun and I need to pay another KES 10000. So when I get this money I will clear all the school's arrears and invest in my small business of vegetable vending."

"I was so happy to receive these funds from GD. At this moment i saw all my dreams of a better life and house coming to reality"

"So i own a business of rearing and selling broilers chicken. Before, i did not have enough finances to keep alot of chickens as i wanted. So when i got these funds i built new Chicken house so that i keep enough chickens. I also bought growers feed for the chickens"

"Persistent drought in the village has been the biggest hardship that I have ever faced. Over the years, I have been depending on subsistence farming. However, due to the prolonged drought, farming has been difficult. This made me shift from farming to charcoal burning just to make ends meet. The business is not reliable because there are no more trees for burning charcoal. The money I get in a week is less than 2000 KES which is not sufficient to meet the basic needs of my family. Upon receiving this money I will be able to rear livestock that I will sell when they multiply as an investment for my children education."

"I have desired to invest in livestock because it is the only way I can save my money to earn me a profit when I sell them after they multiply. I, therefore, intend to start with 10 goats that will cost me KES 30000 of my first transfer. The remaining amount of my first transfer will cater for food expenses and other household needs. With the second transfer, I intend to pay school fees for my 2 children who are in secondary school. This will give them the opportunity to settle in school and hence, a better performance."

"I live in a one roomed hut with a family of six children. This house is not enough to accommodate my family. This forces them to borrow shelter from neighbours. Over two years, neighbours have been laughing at me as a failure and someone who cannot afford shelter for his own children.This has brought shame to me. However, I cannot do anything about it because I live from hand to mouth. I depend on charcoal burning business which earns me less than 2000 KES a week. This money is not enough to save and meet the basic needs for my family. My ambition is to build a two bedroom house so that my children can sleep comfortable under my roof. This house will cost me about 50,000 KES. Therefore, receiving this money means restoring dignity to my family."

"Lack of a stable source of income has been the biggest hardship that I have faced in my life. Imagine being a breadwinner to a family of seven children and without a stable income. This is the situation at hand. Life has been very difficult for me and my family because there are no jobs. My biggest ambition has been to educate my children. However, due to the scarcity of jobs and the prolonged drought, my children are always on and off school due to school fee arrears. I intend to use part of the money to buy 10 goats which survive dry weather conditions that I will sell when they multiply as an investment for children education."

"The biggest hardship for me is waking up everyday without enough food for me and my family. I rely on piecework and farming to get some money which is a litle and never enough to use for everything that I need"

"Iam very thankful and grateful to be considered in the program. Give Directly has done well in such a way that it incorporated almost every member of the village and assisted everyone with unconditional transfer that has helped us"

"Unemployment is the biggest hardship that I have ever faced. Imagine being raised up knowing that the only thing you can do to put food on the table is subsistence farming and then all over a sudden, drought hits your village. This is the current situation that I am currently facing. This has made me shift from subsistence farming to charcoal burning business. However, this business is illegal, but because it is the only means for survival, I have no choice. Everyone in the villages does this and this has made our land look like a desert where all trees have been cut down. Getting trees is very difficult and now we dig the tree trunk to burn for charcoal burning. Soon all the tree trunks will be gone. My ambition has been to be self employed where I run my own legal business. This will help me get food security and save for my future."