"In my opinion 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."

"The biggest difference in my daily life is that I have bought two heifers. I had always wished to start a dairy project but I didn't had money to buy the cows. I do casual jobs in the village and sometimes to get this jobs is so hard. I do small scale farming and the harvest that we get annually is for consumption. I rarely get surplus to sell it. The amount of money that I get from the casual jobs is so small and cannot meet all the basic needs of the family including paying school fees for my children. Investing in dairy farming project was just a dream. When I received the transfer from GiveDirectly I felt so happy because I knew this was my dream come true. Currently I have two heifers and when they reproduced in the next few months I will get enough milk for my family. I will sell the surplus at the market to earn an income to meet other basic household needs. I will be in a position to save some money to pay school fees for my children. My plans is to improve this dairy farming project and grow it to another level. I am so happy because GiveDirectly has changed my living standard. Were it not GiveDirectly I wouldn't have reach where I am now. God bless GiveDirectly."

"The biggest hardship we have faced is the unfavorable climatic conditions in our area. As subsistence farmers, prolonged droughts and tropical diseases have been destroying our crops. This has made it challenging for us to acquire food. Also, we have no surplus produce that could be sold to fetch income. This has made it difficult for us to accomplish some vital tasks such as building a good kitchen and house for our children."

"The biggest hardship we have faced as a family is a poor economy in our area. This has made it difficult for me and my husband to secure casual jobs that would earn us some income. We lack vital skills and knowledge for securing white-collar jobs. Also, the poor economy has forced me to do away with the dream of starting up a grocery business. Precisely, I have been anticipating losses if I start the business because almost everyone is relatively poor. As a result, it has become almost impossible for us to raise school fees for our children."

"My dream is to be a livestock farmer. I currently have 2 sheep and intend to use $300 of my transfer to add 10 sheep. Rearing sheep is a good investment because in a year it can reproduce 3 times. This will mean self employment and my family will be able to have a stable income. The remaining amount will be used to renovate and expand our house,buy two calves and buy food and clothes for the household."

"My ambition is expand my business,I own a maize mill and a small shop where I sell house commodities such as sugar and fruits. I will use $300 to expand the shop by adding more stoke, 15,000 to cement the maize mill and give my customers a seat they can seat while waiting for my services. The remaining transfer will aid my family in sustaining our basic needs such as clothing, savings and food."

"The moment I received the transfer I felt so happy. I remember vividly like yesterday. It was around 9:10 am when I heard a ringtone message from my phone. I was doing my morning chores. I stop and checked it, I couldn't believe my eyes. It was a message confirming that I have received money from GiveDirectly. I immediately inform my family members and they also celebrated. I knew I would be able to pay school fees for my son who was to join form one. I heard a ringtone message from my phone. Was doing my chore. Immediately I heard the celebration from my neighbors. It was a big day for us, a day I will never forget because I have never received such amount of money before."

"I had attended funeral service in my neighbour's homestead when I received the Mpesa message on my phone. I was with my husband who confirmed that it was the transfer that we were anticipating from GiveDirectly. I was overwhelmed with joy after receiving the transfer that would transform our lives for the better."

"I was at my home mourning for the loss of my grandmother who had passed away two days ago. I remember vividly it was around 9 o'clock when heard a loud message notification on my phone. Since I am illiterate, I called my helper who confirmed that I had received the transfer that GiveDirectly had promised during the enrolment period. I was confused about whether to celebrate or to continue mourning my grandma."

"Hunger is the biggest hardship my family has faced.Being a single mother I have to make ends meet for both my daughters and my grandchildren.one of my child is mentally unstable and as a result she has had five kids .Men take advantage of her because of her state and I have had to carry the burden."