"Financial Crisis is the biggest hardship that I have ever faced in my life. I am a charcoal vendor, the job is tiresome and time-consuming yet its earnings are very little of $40 per month. This amount cannot fully sustain the needs of the family. We occasionally skip meals or borrow from other relatives something that ashames me."

"Besides me being a hard-working woman. Attaining a good job has been the biggest challenge in my life. I work as an aloe vera harvester, this job is very tiresome and earns me 1000 shillings per kilogram in a week. This amount is too little and can not sustain all our basic needs such as education and shelter."

"The biggest hardship I have ever faced in my life is food insecurity. This is because I depend on the charcoal burning business which earns me an income that is not sustainable for my family. Due to this, I have been struggling to get food for my family. Sometimes, I am spending the whole day without food. Something that affects the education of my children."

"I spent part of the money I received from GiveDirectly on building a better and spacious house for my family. We used to live in a small grass thatched house which was leaking from inside.The house was so old and it was almost falling apart. Currently we live in a decent and spacious house with my family. I also bought a goat and paid school fees for my child who was starting school.The rest of money I bought food for the family."

"I saved 500 dollars in a bank planning on building a house soon. My spouse do casual jobs and also sell second hand clothes at the market. Whenever he gets some profits we save in a bank with an aim of build a decent house next year. We live in a small grass thatched house.The rest of the money I bought food and clothes for my family members. I am so happy because GiveDirectly has changed our living standard and given us hope."

"My life is different than how it would have been if I never received the transfers in that I have build a better house. I live in a small grass thatched house which is leaking from inside. The house is so old and it is almost falling apart. We are being exposed to cold during the rainy season. I spent some money I received from GiveDirectly to complete the construction of the new house. It's almost done and we are yet to move in. I depend on small scale farming and casual jobs in the village to earn an income. The amount of money that I get through this is so small and cannot meet all the basic needs of the family. I had no extra money to build a better house. I am so happy now because I know I will move in to a better house and live well with my child. We will no longer be exposed to cold. I am so grateful for the support because GiveDirectly has changed our living standard. I hope to invest in livestock with the remaining amount. This will be my investment and I will devote my time and ensure that I make it great."

"My live is different than how it would have been had I not received the transfer in that I have been able to build for myself an iron-roofed house. I depend on small scale farming and the harvest that we get is only for consumption. This had made it impossible for me to meet some of my goals like building an iron roofed house. In my region, there are so many termites that feed on the grass that is commonly used in roofing houses. With this, one has to change the roof yearly to avoid the house from leaking and this is costly. Building an iron roofed house was my only solution but had not been to due to lack of finances. I am now glad since this is no longer the case"

"I have made a major step in life ever since I received my transfer. This is because I have been able to pay school fees for my children on time, purchased a dairy cow and built a more spacious house for my family. Due to this, my children are no longer being sent home regularly to collect fee arrears like before and in addition, they currently have enough time to study in the evening as they no longer have to leave home early going to sleep in our neighbors house as they now sleep at home. Also, my dairy cow is almost giving birth and I will have enough milk for our consumption and even sell the surplus at the market and use the money earned to pay school fees for my children."

"My life is different than how it would have been if I never received the transfers in that I have bought a dairy cow. I used to buy milk daily and this was so costly for me. I do small scale farming and the harvest that we get is only for consumption. I did not had surplus. I do casual jobs in the village and sometimes to get this jobs is so hard. The amount of money that I get through this is so small and only for school fees and other household items. I had no savings to buy a dairy cow. Currently I have a dairy cow and I get enough milk for my family unlike before. I sell the extra milk at the market to earn an income to meet other basic household needs including paying school fees for my children. I hope to improve this dairy farming to another level. I have devoted much of my time on my farm, I no longer do casual jobs. I am so happy because GiveDirectly has changed our living standard."

"My biggest hardship I have faced is lack of opportunity to be employed. My husband is a primary school teacher by profession but ever since he graduated, he has not been posted to his work station. Now it's over a year. We have been admiring people who have a small business but we could not manage to have one due to luck of capital"