"It was around 10 pm when I heard my phone vibrating. Since I am illiterate, I asked my spouse to confirm what the notification was all about. After checking it he realized it was an mpesa message from GiveDirectly they had debited my first transfer in my account. I was so glad because I knew some of my dreams were now achievable."

"My life has improved because I have constructed an iron roofed house which has releived me the burden of looking for thatch for renovating the house yearly. I feel happy and every day I wake up, I tell God thankyou and ask him to provide for GiveDirectly so that they can support more people."

"I expect my life to have changed in the next six months since I will have planted onions in my farm. I am hopeful that I will have harvested and sold them. The money I get I will save so that I can use it to pay school fees for my son who is joining secondary school next year."

"My life will no longer be the same again in the next six months since I will have harvested and sold the vegetables which are currently on the farm. I will use the money I will get to start other income-generating activities. In addition to this, I will have built a shop using the bonuses I will be given by the tea factory near my home where I have been supplying green tea leaves for processing."

"Receiving this money means a relief to my husband who has been struggling daily to meet the needs of the family. At the moment, he works as a casual laborer in Mombasa, and his income is hardly enough to cater for basic necessities like food, education and even clothing. What worries him a lot is the late payment. Sometimes he works even for more than two months without salary, and it has derailed most of our operations here at home. We have incurred a lot of debt here, and people have branded as liars, a situation that is so demeaning. Therefore once we receive our transfers, we plan to start an income-generating activities, and according to our capabilities, poultry farming is what we are going for. And apart from that, we plan to invest in goat rearing. This is a venture that is most viable here given that the climatical conditions favor such practice. Having those key projects up and running be a great boost in raising and educating our children."

"Currently, my life is different from the way it was before Give Directly came into my life in that I have been able to buy household items with ease. I am now at peace because most of my problems have been solved. My health has also improved after using my third transfer for medication. I rarely went to work because of my medical condition but now I am glad that I have fully recovered and can operate normally like I used to before I became sick. This has improved my financial status because I work throughout the week unlike when I was unwell where I could be forced to work twice or three times a week to get income."

"Lack of oxen for ploughing is my biggest hardship. In our culture, we use oxen to open farm land for crop cultivation. I therefore have to do casual labour in order to raise money that I use to hire bulls for ploughing. Owning oxen will enable early planting which yields at the and of the harvest."

"I have a new goal of buying a small piece of land where I will eventually build a house one day God willing. I have identified certain areas within Makueni county where pieces of land are sold at affordable prices, and I think this could be a good opportunity for me to buy a small piece of land and later build rental houses when I will have enough finances."

"Receiving this money means building and staying in a permanent house that is iron roofed and free from termite infestation. It is very expensive to renovate a grass thatched out every given te fact that finding grass for thatching is very difficult. Sleeping in an iron roofed house will enable me to save money that would have otherwise been spent on renovation."

"My biggest hardship is lack of adequate land for farming. Having few gardens means that I cannot engage myself in commercial farming."