"I was at home doing my house chores when I heard my phone ringing, it was exactly 9:am upon checking the message I saw a Mpesa notification showing that I had received KES 55,000 from GiveDirectly, I was overwhelmed with joy upon receiving the money, I knew that I was going to buy a cow just the way I had planned, my hopes were revived that finally, I would be able to earn an income. I am grateful for the support that changed my life."

"I was at home enjoying a cup of tea together with my wife when I heard my phone ringing, upon checking I saw a Mpesa notification showing that I had received money from GiveDirectly, words cannot express how happy I was, I thanked God for the wonderful gift that came my way that morning because I knew that with the cash at hand I would be able to construct a decent which I was unable to build a house due to financial constraints. I am grateful for the support that changed our lives."

"I was at home preparing to go to the field to graze my goats. I remember it was around 9 am, I was with my spouse at home. I heard a loud message notification on my phone and I had to stop what I was doing to inform my husband to check my phone. He discovered that it was the mpesa message indicating that I had received the transfer. It was an exciting moment when we received the transfer. We jointly celebrated and thanked God for the opportunity."

"I was at the nearby water pan where we had gone to do a casual job to earn a living. I heard a message alert on my phone. Being illiterate, I was with my niece and I gave the phone to him to check message content. He informed me that I had received the transfer. At first, I did believe and I had to reach home for my son to confirm in my account. I felt very happy for receiving my transfer and rejoiced with my family members."

"It was 8 a.m and I was working on the farm. When I heard a message notification come in, I decided to check my phone. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that I had received the transfer from GiveDirectly. I was so happy because I had been looking forward to the day when I could receive some financial assistance so I could meet my family's needs."

"On this Thursday morning, I was at school doing my studies. At 9 a.m, I received a message notification informing me that I'd received the cash transfer from GiveDirectly. I was ecstatic. I knew I was finally going to have some relief from the financial burden I had been carrying as a student and mother."

"Sleeping in one grass-thatched house with my children has brought shame and discomfort to me and my husband. We no longer have privacy in the house, this is worsened when visitors come overnight. With this money I will prioritize building a two-roomed house with KES 60000, this will bring us peace and happiness now that shame will no longer be part of our life. I am also struggling to buy milk for my family making me feel the pain of the high price of milk. Having our cow will help us milk our milk and feed the family well, this gives me the thought of buying my cow with KES 30000. My husband is also struggling to provide food and other basic needs like clothing for the family. To relieve him with this I will budget the remaining money for food and clothing for the family."

"The challenge I am currently facing is a lack of money. Since the onset of COVID -19 business went down. At times customers buy on credit and may take time to pay me. This is affecting my business since I depend on it for my other needs like paying school fees for my son."

"Lack of income is the biggest challenge in my life. As a father, my obligation, other than feeding my family, is to provide quality education for my children. This is difficult since I depend on u productive subsistence farming. The money I make from this kind of farming is only enough for providing food for the household. I struggle and sometimes fail in raising school fees for the children on time."

"Lack of finances is the main challenge. We are farmers depending on farm produce to earn a living. Farming here is seasonal due to poor rains. Sometimes it floods or there are prolonged droughts. This affects farming. I farm vegetable nurseries and sell the seedlings. It is demanding and needs a constant water supply. During dry seasons, we do not get to sell any seedlings or we are forced to look for water to irrigate which is tiresome since our source of water is far."