"Receiving this money means upscaling my farming which will result in food security in my household. Currently, I struggle a lot in feeding my family of 4 because I am unable to till my 5 acres of land. I usually use hoes and the much I harvest is only 1.5 sacks that last us for 2 months. I, therefore, plan to buy oxen and an ox-plough to help me increase my farm production, and to achieve this, I will spend utmost $380 of my transfers. With the remaining amount, it will help me to construct a house for myself and the one I currently have will be for my children, who are at the moment have occupied the kitchen. This will change my livelihood, a transformation that I have ever admired."

"Receiving this money means improved living standards in my household. This is because I am a housewife relying on my husband who does casual job of masonry. The job is hard to get and sometimes he stays for over 6 months without finding one. I am planning to spend Kshs.20,000- to join tailoring course, Kshs.15,000 to buy tailoring machine, kshs 30,000 to buy materials. The remaining portion of the transfer will help me to cater for other basic needs such as food and clothing."

"My father died in 2019 after suffering from cancer. I remember seeing how he endured pain while at Kenyatta hospital, Nairobi. During then, I had just gotten married to my wife. Though jobless, my father used to join hand and financially support my family to earn a descent living. My father was selling milk to hotels and individual homes in Bamba town. Since his demise, life has never been the same again. I struggle so much to earn a living for my children and my family. Infact, we had to split amongst our brothers so as everyone can stand on his own and fend for his own family. Being illiterate, it's not easy to get a sustainable job and thus worsening my inability to raise my children. So, not being able to provide for my children is my biggest problem I have ever faced."

"Lack of resources is the biggest hardship I have faced in my life. I am a casual laborer at a nearby dispensary and my monthly pay there is too little to settle my household needs and educate my children."

"I want to start small business of chicken keeping especially egg laying chickens. This will help me get more income. To begin with i need to construct a small house for them . I need 150 dollars to make a good one. Then purchase 30 chickens costing 2.5 dollars each."

"The lack of a better job that can sustain my needs is what has been my biggest hardship. This is because I currently do casual jobs that earn me $3 per day and this goes to food. Hence, I have not been able to construct a better house and also fail to have a project that I can depend on for my future life."

"Receiving this money means land ownership to my household. This is because I have been living on family land which belongs to my elder brother in law almost 40 years now. Recently, my brother-in-law sold the land and this has left me living with fear because I might be forced to leave anytime. Due to this fear, I opted to purchase my land but the much I paid as a deposit was only 300 dollars, and the balance as of now is 1700 dollars. With the help from GiveDirectly, I am now happy to know that I will soon own the land since I intend to spend the entire transfer to pay for the land."

"Receiving this money means an additional source of income for my household. I currently own one Friesian cow that produces 5 liters of milk for sale at $1.5 daily, therefore if I add one more surplus milk-producing cow worth $400, my income from selling milk will double up to $3-5 daily. I also plan to use $120 of my transfer to hire a ploughing machine that will ensure proper tillage of my farm, hence improved crop production. I will also use $50 to buy hybrid maize seeds for planting."

"Receiving this money means revival of my retail shop in the village by renovating it and restocking. For the fifth year now, I have been running a retail shop in the village. However, the harsh economic conditions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic made my businesses run out of stock. I am now planning to use 400 dollars from the GiveDirectly transfer to renovate and expand my retail shop. I will also furnish the retail shop to a more desirable state so as to attract more customers. I will use the balance to restock my retail shop so that customers do not miss on the commonly purchased commodities such as maize flour, wheat flour, cooking oil, rice among other commodities. This will finally raise my profits and consequently boost my standard of living."

"The biggest hardship I have faced in my life is worries attributed by sleeping under an old house with a leaking roof. This has really endangered my family's life given that the house might collapse anytime."