"Food security is my biggest source of hardship right now. This being a drought-prone area, farming is not as lucrative as it is in other areas of Bomet county. Our government is not providing seeds that are drought resistant and this leaves us exposed to losses year in year out. I have completely abandoned farming and resorted to buying food which also comes with a higher cost. I spend KES 300 daily buying maize flour and vegetables. I have had to go to bed hungry on several occasions whenever I do not get money to spend on food."

"The money will meant business capital and paying for my children's school fees. My husband is in South Africa were he is working. I live here with my three Children and together there are 5 in our family. I do not do any business and I am not employed. I depend much on my husband which he sends K15000 ($14) per month. The money is mostly used to buy food and other basic needs. I have a piece of land that I do subsistence farming and I harvest 5 bags of 50kgs. I use 75kgs of maize per month and the 5 bags is only enough to feed us for 3 months. The remaining months I buy from the money my husband sends every month. The cash transfer I want to use it to start business. I would like to be buying and selling fish. Then the other part of the transfer I would like to use it to pay for school fees of my children at a good private school."

"My life is different than how it would have been if I never received the transfers in that I have build a better and spacious house for my family. We used to live in a small house which could not host all the family well. I had always wished to build a better house but I didn't had money to start. I depend on small scale farming. We plant maize and beans every season.The harvest is so small, I was not in a position to sell the produce to earn an income to buy building materials. Whenever I had visitors it was so stressful because I had no extra space to host them. I could host them outside the house. This was so demoralizing. When I received the second transfer I found it wise to invest on building a better and spacious house for my family. Currently I have a decent home. I do not shy off to welcome visitors to my house because I have enough space. Whenever my extended family visited me there is a smile on my face because I know they will have a room to sleep. GiveDirectly has changed our living standard to be much better than before. We are so grateful for the support."

"GiveDirectly does well by giving money to the poor in the community to build better houses and to buy dairy cows. I do not find anything that GiveDirectly did not do well."

"My life is different than how it would have been if I never received the transfers in that I have started a Barber shop. I used to do a casual jobs in the village and sometimes to get this jobs is so hard. The daily wages is KES 300. This was not enough to meet all the basic needs of the family including paying school fees. I had no extra money to save. I had always wished to own a business before but I didn't had the money. When I received the second transfer I bought eight iron sheets, I was able to build a barber shop at home. Barber shop. I bought the hair cut machine, hair comb, scissors, battery and Sola panel. Currently I am running a small barber shop at home. My target customers are the school going children and even the parents. I also charge phones. I am able to take home KES 350 per day. I have stopped the casual jobs and devote all my time on my business. I am in a position to save some money which was not possible before. I can manage my work well without being follow up with much pressure. My family is able to get all the basic needs and I pay the school fees in time. GiveDirectly has changed my living standard. I have peace of mind now to invest on this amazing business and even open other branches across."

"The biggest difference in my daily life is that I have build a better house for my family. We used to live in a small mud house which could not host all the family comfortably. I depend on small scale farming to earn an income. I sell the farm produce to earn an income.The amount of money that I get through this is so small and only for other basic household needs. I was able to buy bricks and iron sheets before from the savings that I had. When I received the transfer I felt so happy because I knew I would be able to start the construction process. I used the money to buy cement and paid the workers. The construction is on going now. I am so happy because I know we will have a spacious and better house. We will no longer be exposed to dust. Whenever I have visitors they will have enough space to sleep. I am so grateful for the support because GiveDirectly has changed our living standard to be much better than before."

"I spent all the first transfer to renovate my house to look decent. I bought paints and and design my varender . I pained the walls and ceiling with the best pains. My house look so decent now since I was able to redesigned my varender. I have bought new iron sheets planning to replace the old one out. My plan is to renovate the roofing. I have always wished to do this but I didn't had the money. I am so grateful because GiveDirectly has changed our living standard."

"My life is different now in way that, I have built a house now which could be impossible if it was not for GD. Farming has been a barrier in my family because of lack of inputs, but the coming farming season will be much better because I have already bought fertilizer which I am sure it will be a good production year. Also my family has been in absolute poverty over the years, now we have good shelter, clothes and other basic needs. All this is because of coming of GD and we are thankful."

"Growing up I had the desire to pursue my studies to university level. Unfortunately my parents could not afford taking me to college due to financial constraints. This made me enroll all my 3 children in boarding school because I want a bright future for them and I know education is the key. I plan on using all the transfer to pay for arrears of KES 25,000 and their year's school fees which is a total of KES 60,000. I struggle a lot to raise this amount at once and I depend on loans as the business that I do is unreliable in terms of income stream."

"I spent part of my first transfer on clearing my college fees of KES 2400 which was for the last semester. In addition to that since I am a tailor by profession, I bought a sewing machine at KES 15000. I am happy I will no longer be hiring those of my friends that were a bit expensive. I also bought a new bed and a mattress at a total of KES 13000 which was to replace the old mats which I have been using before as beddings. In addition to that, I bought three goats at KES 10500 which will now be the assets that I can rely on when the need arises. Also, I bought four bags of cement, sand, and gravel purposely for the renovation of my house which was about to fall because of the weak muddy walls. With the remaining amount of money, I am using it in buying foodstuffs for my family."