"My spouse divorced me 20 years ago when he realized that i could not bear children, something that has been the biggest hardship i have faced in my life. I ended up spending a lot of money in different hospitals so as to proof to everyone that i was not barren as was claimed, yet i never achieved any success. This forced me to buy my own land using all the savings from the cereals business that i had engaged myself in during the period i was married. I was latter forced to adopt the four children i am currently taking care of at a fee in order to avoid loneliness and ridicules from my relatives and friends. I have been taking care of them single handedly engaging in low paying casual jobs (ksh100 per day)in people's farms so as to provide their needs as well as pay for their school fees. One of them is in secondary school and the other two are in primary school."

"My husband is an employed butcher in a nearby shopping center. His income alone cannot entirely fend for an astronomic financial need in the family. He works so hard to educate our children through his meagre income, especially our first born in college. Now that GiveDirectly has come to our aid, I am planning to invest the first transfer in purchasing a dairy cow which will provide an extra source of income so as to ease his burden. I will use the remaining amount to put up a house for my children. This is what receiving this money means to me. "

"Imagine investing so much money and effort in farming and reaping a paltry harvest extremely lower than cost of expenditure. This has been the case with maize farming in my community for the last decade due to a persistent soil borne disease. Consequently, this shortcoming has diminished the option of diversification giving rise to overdependence on livestock for livelihood. Having such a single source of income cannot entirely meet incessant household necessities like food, clothing and children's education, let alone saving for future. "

"I dropped out of school in form 1 due to lack of school fees.This was so discouraging to me since I had just joined secondary school.Due to frustration I decided to get married and at an early age of 16 I had my first child.I believe that if I had continued with my studies I could be employed.Lack of employment has made me fully depended on my husband and therefore cannot support him during tough economic times.Dropping out of school and getting married early has denied me alot in life."

"My expectation in the next six months is to buy a cow. I want to have a second source of income. I chose to buy a cow because very few people own cows in this region yet the demand for milk is very high. I am sure that this plan will go well because I have the necessary skill of keeping dairy cows and I also know where to get healthy cows that have a high milk production capacity."

"It is always my plan to reduce daily household expenditures and increase my income on savings. I expect in the next six months to improve my farming with the use of monthly transfers. I expect to employ modern mechanism in my farm like the use of hybrids inputs and machines in land preparation. This will improve my yields hence will have enough food and surpluses to sell to increase my income."

"I live in a very small house which is not spacious enough to host visitors.My kitchen serves the purpose of a living room too.Receiving this money from Give Directly will therefore help me to build another house which will ensure my visitors comfort. Owning another cow has been another wish for me.I have one cow and the milk I get is just for consumption. I need another cow so that I can get milk for sale.This will boost my income."

"Having the pair of oxen has made my life to be totally different. I have been having the desire to buy them for a long period of time but due to my financial status, I could not afford it. I believe and hope they will be of great help in ploughing my farm since the pair can take less days to plough an acre as compared to tilling myself. I believe I will get increased harvest products from the previous ones being that I prepared my farm in time unlike before when I used to do it myself. Apart from that, I will also hire them to my neighbors at a fee and get an income to help me sustain my family needs ."

"The fact that I cleared the fees arrears for my children, it has made my life to be so different. They have been sent home several times to collect school fees and due to my low income, they could stay at home even for weeks as I was still looking for the money to pay. This was really frustrating me I thought I had failed them as a parent. This is because they could miss classes and even exams and this was really affecting their academic performance. I am now hopeful and happier because ever since I received my first transfer all is well now because they are now studying without any difficulties. I could not not have done all this if it were not for GiveDirectly to come to my village. According to me GiveDirectly never failed us."

"Considering my family size of seven providing for my family basic needs has been a challenging task for me. Being a housewife, my only hope is on my husband's business a job that does not comfortably cater for our family basic needs. This has forced my children to skip classes a thing that does not give me peace of mind. The realization of the transfer we are about to receive is a rejuvenated hope for our family as my husband will be able to earn more income to support our family's basic needs. Hence, transform our lives for the better."