"The biggest hardship in my life has been financial stability due to unemployment. One and a half years ago I separated from my wife because I didn't have an income to support the family. If I had a stable source of income then she wouldn't have left me. I wasn't fortunate enough to go past my secondary education because my father did not have money to send all my 5 siblings past that level of education. It meant I had to have something extra whole applying for jobs since most requirements are degree certificates."

"Receiving this money is a blessing because i have never received this amount of money."

"At the moment it's very difficult to take care of my mother the way I have always wanted, so it's difficult to provide food, proper shelter and clothes."

"The biggest hardship i have faced in my life is having enough food"

"I lost my mother at a very young age, and it affected my life till date. I was unable to go to school because my Aunt could not afford to buy school material for both of her children and us."

"I spend part of the money I received from GiveDirectly on school fees for my children in various schools. I am so happy because they were able to study well without being sent home to collect the school fees. I also started a business ,this will be a source of income to meet other basic household needs. The rest of the money I bought food for the family and tools for my work as a masonry. I am so grateful for the support."

"In my opinion GiveDirectly does well by giving money to the poor in the community to build better houses and to pay school fees for their children. I do not find anything that GiveDirectly did not do well."

"Farming has been my passion since my childhood, given that in the past, it was our main source of livelihood in our family before I was married off. For now, the 0.5 acre piece of land that my spouse acquired from his parents is too small to cultivate, thus forcing us to toil hard engaging less paying casual jobs so as to buy food for our household. We have always wished to buy land for tilling so that we can plant our own crops for family consumption but lack of finances has made this hard to achieve. This is the biggest hardship we face."

"In this village, there has been an increase in lawlessness over the past six months.This is threatening when I consider myself being a woman who is living with small children. Since this house in poor shape,I stand a high chance of the little belongings I have to get stolen. The house also put our lives at risk as it can be easily blown away during heavy rain and strong winds. Hence, my inability to have a good house is my biggest hardship currently."

"I spent part of my second transfer on buying some building materials such as 24 pieces of iron sheets, nails, and timber at a total of 29000. This was purposely for the completion of my house which I had initially started using the first transfer. The previous house was very small and as my family grows I was afraid someday it would not accommodate us all. Also, I paid the laborer KES 6000. In addition, I bought three goats worth KES 9000. With the remaining amount, I bought enough foodstuffs and decent clothes for my children to replace the old ones"