"Before receiving the transfers, I used to live in a one room house. I depend on casual jobs and the pay is not always enough to cater for our daily needs and this always made me live on debts. Due to this, I had not been able to save even a cent to use in the construction of a spacious house for my family. Despite shelter being one of the basic needs, my children had to always walk some distance at night looking for a place to spend their night. What made me more worried is living knowing the dangers my girls are exposed to going to sleep in my neighbors house. Currently, my heart is at peace unlike before. This is because I am almost through with the construction of a house for my family and I know that very soon, my children will be sleeping at home."

"Extended period of drought and lack of a constant source of income has been the biggest hardship in my life. I do casual jobs in order to get something to eat since we cannot plant and havest successful hence we have to struggle inorder to sustain the family."

"The biggest hardship I have ever faced is job security. I am a single mother with five children. My ex-husband is not supportive to anything. I am the only one obliged to fend for my children. Since I am depending on my small businesses of charcoal selling and aloe vera selling, things have now worsened with the drought that has ravaged our village."

"In 2014, I fell ill and being taken to hospital I was diagnosed with a throat sore problem. I had difficulties in swallowing. It was at the same time when my husband was also sick. Having young children at the moment who could not be involved in decision making of the family, I was abandoned and all focus on medication was put to my husband. I felt like unwanted in the family. It was the very lowest point of my life. I even thought of commiting suicide. However, after a period of six months, I was helped by a well-wisher who was told of my problem. I thank God I survived. That is the biggest hardship I ever faced in my life."

"At my old age, I have always wished to own at least one milk-producing cow that will ensure constant income in my household. I currently depend on being provided for by my children now that I am no longer strong enough to engage in strenuous income-generating activities. $350 of my transfer will therefore help me fulfill this ambition. I also plan to use $150 of my transfer to build a granary. I usually store my threshed maize and other cereals in a leaking roofed granary which makes them get spoilt and unfit for consumption, which forces me many times to dispose them."

"A prolonged period of drought has been the biggest hardship we have faced in life. Lack of sufficient rainfall in our region has cause mental turmoil. Over the last 8 years, we have experienced low rainfall in our region and this has reduced crop production. We have an acre of land which we have grown maize for domestic consumption. Initially, we used to harvest approximately 8 bags of maize unlike now where we hardly harvest 2 bags. These two bags are unsustainable for one year and thus forcing us to opt for casual labor as an alternative. Give Directly's entry in our village is a sigh of relief to us."

"Receiving this money means an increased source of income. We have always been depending on my husband's income for upkeep which I feel is inappropriate. My husband works as a police officer in a far region and we entirely depend on him. I intend to have a diversified source of income and improve my household. I intend to buy a dairy cow of approximately Ksh 30,000 from the Give Directly's transfer. I will then spend the remaining cash to improve my house by purchasing furniture. Having a dairy cow will help us earn some cash through the sale of milk and lessen our reliance on my husband's income."

"The biggest hardship that I have ever faced in my life are the several divorce cases that I have encountered in my life. I am the only child in my family and my father vowed that I will not leave my home because my mother will have no one around. This has in the long run affected my social life since every man that attempts to marry me changes his mind after impregnating me. I have suffered 5 divorce cases in my life. All this contributed to me having eight children who do not have a common father and all depend on me for their survival. Taking care of them without a stable income has really made life unbearable for me. However, I have nothing to do but to struggle making ends meet."

"Unemployment is the biggest hardship that I have ever faced in my life. Being a widow with a family to take care of is a challenge since I have no stable income generating activities that I can engage in. My body is becoming weak as I get old and even the charcoal business that I depend on is becoming hard to do it continuously. However, I have no choice but just to do it because if I do not do it, then I will starve with my family. I earn less than $70 a week which is not enough to meet most of my basic needs. This makes life more difficult for me and my family."

"Unemployment is the biggest hardship that I have ever faced in my life. With the COVID-19 pandemic that has destabilize the economy of Kenya, even getting casual jobs in the village is difficult due to lack of money. This has contributed to me being dependent on my husband who is a motorist. The little money that he gets is not sufficient to meet our basic needs and make savings for our future."