"The biggest difference in my daily life is that I have bought a heifer. I will be able to get enough milk for my family when it reproduced in the next few months. I will cut the daily cost of buying milk which is so expensive. I spent KES 36,000 per year on purchasing milk only. I had always wished to own a dairy cow but it was not easy because I didn't had money. I depend on small scale farming and sometimes I sell the produce to get some money to purchase other household items. Sometimes I do small business of buying goats from farmers and selling at the market to earn a profits. I used the money I get to pay school fees and other household items needed. I was not in a position to save some money. Currently I have my own heifer and I am so happy now. I know all the struggles will come to an end. My children will get milk daily. I am so grateful for the support."

"I spent part of the money to purchase building materials and started building a better and spacious house for my family. We decided to build a timber house and cement the floor to be dust free. We live in a small mud house which cannot host all the family comfortably. We were also being exposed to dust particles. I paid a surveyor who was helped us measure Hhe boundaries of our farms at home. I bought a small watet tank for storing water for domestic use. The rest of the money I bought food for my family."

"The biggest difference in my daily life is that I paid school fees for my son who is in secondary school. He was able to study well without being sent home. Most of the time he was being sent home and this was affecting his performance in school. I depend on casuL jobs in the village and sometimes it's so hard to get one. The money is so small and I was only able to meet basic needs and pay part of the school fees. I do small scale farming and sometimes I sell the produce to pay school fees. Currently I am so happy and I have peace of mind to do my daily activities at home and save the little money that I get. My children are so happy and they have promised to work hard to improve their performance in school. I am so grateful for the support because GiveDirectly has enabled me to pay school fees on time."

"The moment I received the transfer I felt so happy. I remember vividly like yesterday that it was around 10 am. When I was doing my morning chores. Then I heard a ringtone message from my phone. I reluctantly check it out because I was not expecting any message from anyone. I felt do happy when I realized it was message confirming that I have received money from GiveDirectly. I knew I would be able to purchase some of the materials needed to build a better house for my family."

"The biggest difference in my daily life is that I have paid school fees for my children. My children used to be sent home to collect the school fees and this was affecting their performance. They could stay home for a quite some time, Since I didn't had some money. They were so demoralized because the lessons were on going. I depend on small scale farming at home. Sometimes I sell the produce to pay school fees. I do a casual jobs in a nearby school and this enabled me to pay part of the school fees. Currently my children are so happy and they have not been sent home. The have time to study unlike before. This has made them to improve their performance since they attend all the lessons. I am so grateful because I have peace of mind to do other chores at home. I am no longer stressed up like before. I am able to save some money to pay for the next academic term."

"The biggest hardship I face is drought, my family has been dependant on farming of maize for sustainability. In the previous years there has been drought and famine in our area, we would sell maize and pay for school fees but now we just use it for food in the house. My husband resonated to casual jobs and last year landed a job as an acting supervisor for a family member's road construction company and his income is only KES 8,000 per month. His income is not enough for school fees or providing sufficient food for the family."

"Receiving the money will help me so much first and foremost I it will help me pay for my hospital bills I was involved in an accident am really grateful that this money will help me with hospital expenses, with the change in plan on building a nice house cause the one we staying in now is small and we share it with livestock."

"The biggest hardship I have faced in my life is lack of money to sustain my family; something that has forced me to embark on energy-draining occupations such as charcoal burning and aloe vera tapping. These occupation have some negative implications on my health especially chest and abdominal pains at night. Irregardless of the toughness of these occupations, I still don't have an option but do them because my husband's income as a non-trained primary school teacher can not sustain the entire family."

"Receiving this money means I will be able to settle all the debts I borrowed from my neighbours as I wanted to take my daughter to school. My daughter was joining secondary school and I did not have the required amount of money to cater for the shopping, admission fees and tuition fees. I was forced to borrow a total of KES. 35,000 from neighbours. Immediately I receive my first transfer from GiveDirectly, I will use KES. 35,000 to settle all the debts so that I can build trust with my neighbours. I will use a further KES. 6,000 to buy a new mattress so that I can have some peaceful sleep at night. I will use the balance to buy enough food for my family. Sometimes, drought in our area is so persistent to an extent that we fail to harvest anything. This leads to food insecurity and the money I will receive will ensure that my family is supplied with enough food."

"The collapse and closure of my firewood selling business due to the harsh economic impediments brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic is the biggest hardship I have faced in my life. Things fell apart and I had to revert to charcoal burning, an energy draining occupation which has really affected my health such that I always fall ill. Moreover, the profits I used to make while selling firewood are nowhere to be seen and I only survive on charcoal burning. For me, burning charcoal is shameful given the financial status I had acquired during my firewood selling days. Imagine, I have even been unable to take my daughter to college even after encouraging her to study hard something she did and performed extremely well."