"My dream has been to see my children excel in their education so does receiving this money mean to me. We have been struggling to make ends meet and send our children to school. I have three school-going children, one in secondary level and two in primary level. Due to hard economic times, paying school fees and meeting other domestic expenses have been hard to come by. My husband is a casual laborer (tea leaves plucking) in a far place from here earning an average wage of Ksh 300 a day. The whole school expenses for both primary and secondary school-going children is Ksh 20,000 a year. Owing to the nature of my husband's work, we are unable to settle these expenses and thus relying on a loan. My intention, therefore, is to spend my first transfer to settle school fees arrears and repay debts. Settling their fees arrears relates to a fulfilled dream a move that will set a pace to see them through their academic excellence."

"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."

"Receiving this money means a reliable source of income for my household. I am planning to spend $300 on my first transfer to buy 10 goats which will act as long time investment project for my family. I will sell the goats at a profit when they multiply. The remaining amount of my first transfer will help me to construct a separate house for my children. I will further use $300 of my second transfer to buy 2 indegious dairy cows for milk production. I will sell the milk produced to earn an income. The remaining amount of the second transfer will help cater to some basic needs of the family like paying school fees for my children and buying food."

"Receiving this money means building a decent house for my family. This is because I am planning to use my entire first transfer to construct a two-bedroom house, that will allow me to live a decent life. Currently, I am living in a small house which is leaking during rainy seasons. This house ashames me a lot especially when I have visitors because there is no place where my visitors can rest. With the second transfer, it will help me to pay for school fees for my children in school and also cater to family needs like food."

"The biggest difference in my daily life is that I have bought a heifer. I do small scale farming at home and the harvest that we get annually is only for consumption. I rarely get surplus to sell. I had a poultry keeping project though the income was so small. The amount of money that I get through this two projects was so small and could not meet all the basic needs of the family including paying school fees for my children. I had sold most of my cows to pay school fees for my children in various schools. It was not easy to purchase another cows. When I received the transfer I felt so happy because I knew I would be able to buy a heifer. I like dairy farming because the rate of return is high. Currently I have a heifer and this is my dream come true. I have hope that when it reproduced in the future I will get enough milk for my family and even sell the surplus at the market to earn an daily income. I am so happy because GiveDirectly has changed my living standard and enabled me own a dairy cow which could have taken quite some time to get it."

"Receiving this money from GiveDirectly means proper education for my child. My first born boy is joining secondary school soon. Therefore I am planning to use 500 dollars from the transfer to pay for his school fees. I want my child to have the best experience in school and at the same time get enough time to study. I will therefore pay his full year's school fees so that he can have ample time with books. I will use the balance to construct a two bedroom house for my family. We live in a single room house which is nolonger sustainable for my expanding family and getting a spacious house will be good for us."

"Receiving this money means a descent and a spacious house for my family and any visitor who might come to check on us. The house I live in is in bad condition and dangerous for any person to live. Sometimes I feel ashamed whenever I get a visitor because of the condition of my house. The walls have some cracks and the house is nolonger stable and can collapse anytime. I am planning to use 500 dollars from the GiveDirectly transfers to construct a two bedroom house for my family. This will make me a happy woman and earn the reputation I have always desired in my village. I will use the balance to cater for my grandchildren's school fees. Lack of school fees has made them miss classes at school and this will in the end affect their academic performance."