"Charcoal burning is still my source of income at my old age. This job requires alot of energy for one to produce meaningful income. Since I am not energetic enough, the much I earn is around 900 shillings a month. This amount cannot cater for all my needs and at times I have to depend on my children who have their families too. Life is such a struggle and I lack basic necessities such as good beddings. All this is caused by lack of enough money which is my biggest hardship."

"My husband owns a motorbike that he uses for taxi and we depend on him to cater for our needs. The daily returns he gets on average from this business is 250 shillings. Catering for the needs of the family right from the basic needs to education is hardly enough to sustain them using the above figure. As a result, we are forced to sell part of the animals we posses like goats to cater for their education bearing in mind two of my kids are studying in a nearby academy. Our inability to cater for all the needs of our family without selling our limited assets is the biggest hardship I have ever experienced."

"I am a mother of two. Getting income to satisfy the family's needs is what has been my biggest hardship. This is because I depend on subsistence farming which has not been working out quite well due to prolonged drought. This has forced me to depend on charcoal vending which is a very tasking job. I have always had a passion in tailoring but since I completed my primary school studies,I have not been able to raise money to take up the course. I believe the tailoring skill will help boost my income."

"Receiving this money means finishing my house that has remained unfinished for 3 years now due to financial instability. I plan to spend $400 on my first transfer to ensure the house is complete. This will provide me the opportunity of living in a decent house. On the other hand, I intend to invest in livestock and I plan to spend $400 on the second transfer to buy 3 indigenous dairy cows. This will provide me with milk for sell in order to get income and also for household consumption. Hence, a transformed life."

"When my husband died 10 years ago, the house which he left us with got collapsed and this forced us to shift to a storehouse that we used as a granary. I have wished to construct a decent house but due to financial instability, this has never been possible. Receiving this money means a dream fulfilled since I plan to spend $400 of the first transfer to construct a 2 roomed house for my family, and $100 will cater for bedding expenses. On the other hand, I intend to start livestock keeping which will act as my long-term project. I will use $300 to buy 10 goats. The remaining amount of the transfers will help me to buy foodstuffs and also pay school fees for my children."

"My biggest hardship in life has been insufficient capital for school fees. I have two children in school, one at the university while the other one in secondary, my first born has finished college but we had taken a loan to educate him, he hasn't been successful enough to get a job and my worry the two might be forced to drop out of school."

"My life is currently different from the way it would have been had I not received the transfer in that if it was not for the money I would still be staying in the leaking house. My previous house had a broken roof with a better part of the wall fallen off. Everyone could see me from outside, it was more or less the same as staying in the open air. I am glad I can have my privacy since the current house has a door and is fully covered."

"Receiving this money means that my dream project of doing poultry farming shall begin. I will utilize some of the funds on purchasing all the necessary materials and building a poultry house. Some of the money will also be used on buying at least 50 birds. I have yearned to venture into this agribusiness because it takes a short time for the poultry to mature, hence we shall benefit from the project soon. Also, we have a ready market for mature birds and eggs."

"Receiving this money means that my worry of losing the only dairy cow we are currently relying on for milk production will end. A friend of ours gave us the cow to be providing us with milk mainly for consumption. However, the owner may opt to take away the cow at any time they may wish, a move that will make us more vulnerable to hunger and poor nutrition because we rely mainly on milk as a source of protein and relevant minerals. In that regard, we shall use some of the transfer on buying a cow that will act as a reliable source of milk for us."

"My life is different than it would have been if I never received the transfers in that I have started business which was not possible before . I used to do casual jobs in the village. This casual jobs could earn me a small income and I was not able to meet all the basic needs of the family. I could struggle so much and spent most of my time away from home, I had no time for my family unlike nowadays where I have enough time at home with my family. Currently I have started a business of buying cows from farmers and sell at the market. This earns me profits to meet my daily household expenditure and save some amount in merry go round group that we have started in our village. I have bought better clothes for my family members. I no longer buy milk because I have a dairy cow. My children no longer go without milk like before. I am so happy because my living standard has improved. Thanks to GiveDirectly."