"When I started receiving these transfers, I teamed with a friend of mine who was a carpenter to run a workshop in a commercial room that I had. Since then I had been taking carpentry lessons from him while also helping with the sales of the furniture he made. Unfortunately, the business came tumbling down a few months ago when he was forced to drop everything and rush to his hometown to attend to some family emergencies which have kept him there ever since. To be able to continue running the business, I decided to pay for carpentry courses at another workshop to complete the training I had started taking from my friend. This month, I used most of my transfer to pay for the training then spent the rest on rent payment and purchasing of foodstuff."

"In the next six months, I know my business will be doing much better than now. When I keep on investing as I am doing now, I will have increased stock which will increase income from the profits of the business. This will help me meet all my needs well and in time without having to depend on anyone for help. My desire is to have a bright future and give the best for my family more than what I experienced in my own life. I would not want any of my siblings and children to drop out of school as I did because of finances."

"I had previously mentioned that I would like to expend my video game business by buying more games and equipment to attract and accommodate more costumers at a time. I have however not yet managed to save enough money to buy more equipment as I had hoped and this still remains to be my biggest goal."

"My life will be different in the next six months in that I will have bought all the materials for building a kitchen. My children are growing up and they need their privacy which is compromised when we stay in the same house. This is because they sleep in the living room. My desire is for them to have their own space and as well get a good cooking place. Currently, I am cooking outside which is affected a lot during the rainy season. I would want to handle the two issues once by building a kitchen with extra space for the children."

"My life will be different in the next six months in that I will be having a new house. I would not be staying in the house with a leaking roof anymore. I believe in the next six months, I would have bought all the required building materials for putting up a new house. Thanks to GD for the transfers."

"It had always been my dream to build a spacious house for my family but I had not been able to due to lack of finances. Apart from the pride that comes with it, my children's security will always be assured. Being able to build this house is the biggest difference in my daily life. Had it not have been for GiveDirectly, I would not have been able to achieve this on my own."

"Receiving the transfer from GD was really the epitome of happiness for our household. We were all filled with joy which kept us thanking God for the new dawn in our lives. I started imagining ourselves establishing all we have been planning and seeing them coming out successful. To date, we have been praying God to guide us as we put our money into various assignments and we are really hopeful that all will go well as we have planned."

"Currently, we have really not had much difference in our daily life but the happiness and the atmosphere within our household since we received the transfers have been amazing. We are now optimistic that in the next few weeks, changes will have been many, among them is the cow which we'll be buying and also restocking of the shop."

"Before I got enrolled into the program, I could not manage to make any savings because my earnings from the casual jobs that I mostly depended on were very little and barely enough to cater to my personal needs. With the transfers supplementing my monthly income, I have been able to comfortably pay my bills in time, buy my provisions and make some savings each month which may later enable me to venture into a business that can increase my overall income and eventually a better lifestyle."

"Hunger. My husband and I do not have formal employment except for casual jobs like weeding people's corn in the village. At most times it becomes difficult to get food enough to feed my five children. The maximum we can come home with everyday is an average of $2. This amount can barely feed our family of 7 for that day making us live from hand to mouth. This is replicated everyday for the rest of the year. This is the biggest hardship I have faced in my life. "