"I consider the lack of a reliable source of income to be my biggest challenge. In our area, the main economic activity is charcoal work, a very energy-draining job. Since I do not have the skills to seek decent jobs, this has pushed me to continuously venture into this activity. At the moment, trees are scarce and I am forced to dig out the tree remains to make the charcoal. In a good month, I make utmost $50 from this job. All this income goes to buying food and I save nothing. Since this income is low, It has compelled me to live in a very hazardous house that is just braving the strong wind of our area. In addition, my daughter's education has been affected because she is frequently sent home due to a lack of fees. This has pained me as a mother and has devoured my hope. What a life!"

"A few years ago, my wife passed on and I was left to take care of my eight children. Raising them single-handedly has not been easy because I rely on casual jobs to make ends meet. The money I get , can only be enough for food but for other needs such as education I depend on bursaries and well-wishers. If I had a stable source of income, life would be better."

"I am old and struggling a lot on my own, my legs are feeble and I have difficulty walking. I fend for myself and a sickly daughter, Marina. She has been sick for the last 3 years, she has a cancerous leg and she goes through a lot of pain, she cannot move at all and has to be assisted to do everything. It gives me sleepless nights to take care of her, she sometimes cry uncontrollably because of the pain and request to be taken to the hospital but I am helpless since I do not have the money to take her for medication in Eldoret Referral Hospital. I have been treating her with traditional medicine but there has been no improvement. Day after day, I have massive worries and wrestle with hopelessness and the thoughts of ever being able to take my daughter to the hospital. The 3 years have been hell, unbearable, and miserable. I am poor with the state of my sick daughter"

"Life has become so unbearable because the cost of living has gone up. The cash I usually earn from engaging in casual jobs is hardly enough to meet my daily demands. I separated from my wife sometimes time in 2017 due to irreconcilable differences and so I have been left alone to fend for our two children, the burden of providing for them is an uphill task, it breaks my heart when I fail to provide adequately for them. Caring for children is the most reassuring and rewarding endeavor but at the same time it can drive someone nuts especially when there is not enough-ness of money."

"The aspect that is making my life harder at the moment is lack of work and hunger. Because of the prolonged droughts in our area which have taken about three years, it has been hard to get menial work on the farms. This has led to a lack of money and a lack of food. I'm forced to sleep hungry about 2 to 3 times a week whenever I don't get work. This makes my life difficult since I don't have the energy to work the following day because of hunger."

"Our biggest challenge as a household is my disability. I have a leg problem. I need to change my walking feet yearly. It costs $250. I have used the one I have now for more than a year due to a lack of funds to change it. We cannot raise the amount as a family, hence making my life very difficult. This has also affected my ability to walk properly and also assist my husband in doing simple tasks."

"The biggest challenge here is food insecurity. The drought made it hard to grow my small farm. Getting food is hard because of the high cost of living. I depend on casual jobs which pay $2.50. It's very little, sugar costs $2.50 a kilogram, and maize flour $0.90. This is very high compared to the previous years. It was half that. This means I must budget well from the few casual jobs I get lest we go hungry with my grandchild."

"Amafaranga yambere naguzemo umurima uteyemo ishyamba wa 300,000 Rwf (300$), ayasigaye mpahamo ibyo kurya. amafaranga ya kabiri nayo yamfashije kwishyura amatara y'umurasire wa 70,000 Rwf (70$), kwishyura amadeni ya 15,000 Rwf (15$), ubundi nkuraho 300,000 Rwf (300$) yo gusana inzu, ayasigaye 150,000 Rwf (150$) ndayizigama."

"I intend to expand my home the following year to enable me to have enough room to store the maize efficiently when I have a good harvest. I am a blacksmith and a subsistence farmer, and I will use the money I get from these jobs to pay $160 for 20 pieces of iron sheets I intend to use in building the house. I live in a small one-room, mud-thatched structure (constructed using fifteen pieces of iron sheets) which is not spacious enough."

"I intend to construct a four-room mud-thatched house next year to provide my family and me with a comfortable place to live. Due to the high cost of living, my present living situation—a rented home where I typically pay $15 per month—has become very stressful. I have been buying construction supplies in bits, and I still plan to do so using the money from my upcoming transfers and the wages from my casual labor to enable me to achieve this goal."