"It was my helper who notified me of a Mpesa message on my phone. As she read out the contents of the message to me, I could not contain the inexpressible joy having received my token as promised by GiveDirectly. I thoughtfully planned for this transfer to transform my life."

"I remember the night before the transfer was sent, I almost had an argument with my daughters who were to report to college for their new semester yet I didn't have enough money to send them back to school. I was glad to wake up to the news that GiveDirectly had sent the first transfer. When I checked on my phone, they had indeed sent the amount they had promised us. I called my family and happily rejoiced and thanked GiveDirectly for fulfilling their promise. It was a blessing that came at the right moment."

"In the next six months l expect to have completed doing my course of tailoring and already become self employed."

"When I heard that GiveDirectly was coming to our village,I was elated and thought that God has finally answered my prayer.I have been wondering how long my growing family will keep living in this small hut because we have no money to build a better house.This money has given me an opportunity to change this and I am so grateful."

"When I was newly married I lived with my in laws in their ancestral land.My father in law was very tough such that we couldn't even farm on the piece of land.We depended on the little that my husband got from his teaching job.It reached a point that we were forced to move out so that we could start an independent life.Sometimes we skipped meals due to lack of money.I had to do casual jobs which payed very little.We finally combined our savings and bought 0.3 acres of land.It has been a long journey to where I am now.Raising up the kids has been a very tough task."

"I lost my child 9 years ago.This was my lowest moment of my life.He had a brain tumor which he battled for one year.He passed on at the age 7 in 2010.Getting him through medication was a big challenge.This is because of the expenses we incurred.At first we never took him for proper medication due to lack of money.We were referred to a referral hospital far away from our county when the condition got worse.We had to sell 0.3 acres of our land for medication but it was too late and he did not make it.He was admitted for six months in the hospital and at some point at the ICU.The medical bill alone at this hospital was Ksh200,000 (2000USD).What we went through was a big setback financially not to mention the emotional stress that I went through."

"The biggest hardship faced in my life is the torture experienced during the civil war of 1986."

"The biggest hardship I have faced is accomodation. The one I stay is incomplete and whenever it rains, I recieve water in the house."

"The biggest hardship I face is lack of an income generating activity. I depend on casual labour as a means of sustaining the family members hence there is too much lacking at my home. Iam finding even a shortage of food in my family. "

"Receiving this money means that I will be able to educate my children. I have a daughter and son all studying in diffrent schools yet footing for thier fees is challenging due to lack of income generating activity. My children will study with Givedirectly transfers and get better futures hence avoidance to be dependants."