"In the next six months, I expect to see my lastborn son settled in school having cleared all the first term's school fees. I am really motivated towards this given that he is the lastborn son in our household and also considering the fact that all other children in our household never took the education that serious."

"I have been grappling with an asthmatic condition for the last 4 decades. The disease has worsened with my age and has continued to become more severe especially currently during the rainy season. As an 80 year old depending on 2 litres a day from my one dairy cow, the dues I get cannot sustain a monthly demand for medicine and doctor's appointment. My biggest worry is that I am going to collapse of chest seizure one day due to the lack of medicine. "

"In the next six months, my expectation is to have bought and installed a large water tank in our household. Currently, we're in the last pits of our merry-go-round and within the next three months my husband will be receiving his turn and in that following month, I will be receiving too as the last person in the cycle. This money will then be accumulated and channeled directly towards the purchasing and the transportation of the tank to our home."

"In this 21st century, education is the key for every child. Currently, my last born is in form 3 and my desire has been to educate him to the university level so that he may secure a good job in the future. This ambition has been faced with a lot of challenges because most of the time my son is always sent out of school due to lack of fee. Receiving this money means quality education for my child as I am planning to spend $ 60 in clearing the third term fee arrears. I will use the remaining amount to purchase 15 goats at 30 dollars each, this will be a longterm investment that will help me in advancing his studies."

"Being a subsistence farmer in an area like ours can be a big challenge since rains are usually unpredictable. Considering that my husband is jobless, the only hope we have is on our son who sends us utmost $20 per month for food since our charcoal business is no longer dependable. Therefore, inadequacy of finances to sustain of basic needs has been my biggest hardship."

"The biggest hardship Iam currently facing is lack of money to educate my children. If my children get proper education, then they will get good employment opportunities."

"Receiving this money will enable me to provide a decent shelter for my family. I plan to invest kshs. 50,000 to construct a two roomed iron roofed house. Initially I had a very spacious house and it could fit my family of eight very comfortably. However, when this year started, my house collapsed and I was only able to construct a single room that is too small for all of us due to lack of finances. The consequence of this is that my children are forced to seek shelter in relatives houses when night falls. It really pains me when they are turned away and they are left hanging confused with no where to sleep. With the pending balance, we will invest in charcoal business in Mombasa town which my husband will be in charge of."

"Living in a polygamous family set up as the second wife out of three has been my biggest hardship.This is because my husband offers no support to me when it comes to taking care of the family's needs.This began when he married the third wife in 2010.From then I do everything on my own beginning with taking care of the basic needs as well as education for my four children.I am a subsistence farmer and what I get from my farm is not enough to satisfy all their needs.My first born is in secondary school while the other three are in primary school. "

"I was woken up by a message alert on my phone and I was curious to know who could have sent a message to me. When I called my helper at daybreak to read the content of the message, I was filled with happiness that knew no bounds since GiveDirectly had sent us our first transfers. I celebrated with my family as I planned on how best I would spend my transfer to bring a positive impact on my life."

"My biggest hardship that I'm facing is lack of oxen for ploughing. We as a family hire the oxen from neighbours when it comes to farming. Having oxen of your own would make you cultivate early whenever rains start."