"Changing times changes everything. I have a large family which is made up of men. They have married and so as per our culture, we have subdivided our land amongst them leaving us with little land for farming. The inability to do large scale farming like before has led to us getting little income that is not sufficient for our home use. This has been the biggest hardship that I have faced in life."

"Receiving this money will mean an expanded source of income for my family. I have two cows that provide us with milk for consumption and sale. I will use KES 40,000 to buy two more dairy cows in order to boost my milk supply which in turn will improve our income since we depend mainly on my husband's job to cater for our needs. I will also use KES 30,000 from the transfer to build a small house for my two sons who are grown and need their own privacy."

"My biggest hardship in life is that, I have been struggling to live and eat properly since I lost my husband years ago."

"I have a family of eight children who depend on me. They need to eat, attend school and have shelter. I live in a one bedroom house that is unfinished. The roof leaks when it rains. This house is not enough to accommodate all my eight children. This forces them to borrow shelter from neighbours which is risky especial moving at night. I depend on charcoal burning business which earns me less than 2000 KES a month. This business is not reliable because there are no more trees in the village for charcoal production. Receiving this money therefore means finishing my house and add one more room for my children. I will then use the remaining amount of money to pay school fees for my family."

"Receiving this money means a semi-permanent house for my family. Currently, I am staying in a small grass-thatched house that is leaking during rainy season. I am planning to spend my entire first transfer to construct a two-bedroom house so that we live a decent life. I will further spend KES 3000 of my second transfer to buy 10 goats that will act as a long time investment project to my household. I will invest the remaining amount in my children's educational needs."

"I am a widow with a grandchild who depends on me for her basic education. Due to my age, I am not able to engage in any economic activities that can earn me an income to meet her basic needs. I depend on casual jobs like weeding and digging other people's land to get money for food. This job earns me less than 200 KES a day. Unfortunately, due to the persistent drought facing our village, these jobs are no longer available. This forces me to depend on neighbours to feed me. I also live in a small leaking house that makes it difficult to sleep especially during rain seasons.Upon receiving this money, I will be able to build a better house that will help me sleep comfortably. I will then use the remaining amount to pay school fees for my grandchild. Receiving this money therefore means building a better house and educating my grand child."

"I lost my parents when I was eight years old and I was taken care of by my grandmother. I had to leave school in class five because my grandmother could not afford to pay my fees and do menial jobs to support her. The biggest hardship I have faced since then is financial constraints because the little education that I got does not make me to compete with the rest who got better education."

"The money will meant buying iron sheets for my house. I have never slept in a n ironed roofed house before, and it has always been my desire/dream of which I was beginning to lose hope. I depend much on selling grass that people uses to roof their house's. Due to my old age, I mostly send my girls to so on my behalf of which at times they miss school and they put their life in danger. On monthly basis I made about K3000 ($2.78). The money is then used to buy food and other basic needs such as clothes, kitchen utensils etc. I have a piece of land which is about 4acres. I do manage to clear the land but due to fertilizer I most of the times harvest 5 to 10 bags weighing 50kgs each. I have never benefited from government fertilizer subsidy program before and I believe the land has the capacity to produce almost 50 to 70 bags of maize. On average we use almost 10bags of maize weighing 50kgs per year. Thanks for the chance of being enrolled into the program, if I receive the cash gift, I will buy iron sheets. On yearly basis it is a requirement for each house with a grass roof to replace it with new grass to avoid leaking during rain season. This is tiresome and sometimes it's hectic. It's easy if the grass is plenty but it became a a problem if bush fire cames before we cut the grass. Due to that I want to buy iron sheets for my family to rest on cutting grasses. Further to that, I want to use part of the money to buy fertilizer, food and beddings. People say Mangochi district is very hot to be using a blankets but it is my wish to have one. I have never owned a blanket before and I have never slept on a mattress. The cash transfer will fulfill my dreams of sleeping on a beautiful place."

"This transfer has come at a time when I need it. Mine has been a difficult path. I have been through ups and downs. I am a single parent of two girls and I depend on myself. I used to study a certificate course in Community health at Eldoret Technical Training Institute. My education was cut short as a result of my pregnancy, I came home to give birth and I have never resumed since then because my parents refused to pay for my tuition fee anymore. I feel that I have been a burden and a disgrace to my parents. My plan is to enrol back to Chebunyo Technical Institute to study hairdressing so that I can become self-employed. It will cost me KES 80000 to complete the whole course. I will use the rest of the finance to buy a dairy cow."

"I started my business with a loan of KES 100000 from Juhudi Kilimo microfinance. Repaying the loan has been an headache for me because sometimes the business is bad and cannot generate enough returns to repay the loan and make profits. This has weighed down on me especially during the time of the covid19 pandemic .I almost closed shop since I was expected to repay it with an interest. Business needs a lot of patience and commitment."