"I spent a larger portion of my transfer on repaying a loan that I had taken to pay school fees for my child. At that point in time, I was desperate due to lack of money and I could not bear seeing my child staying out of school. I took a risk not knowing where I was going to get money and repay the loan. I normally depend on casual jobs like construction work which are rare to find. Afterward, the remaining amount was spent on starting a business and paid rent. I also gave my mother some amount for her upkeep and finally bought my food."

"The biggest difference in my daily life ever since I started receiving money from GiveDirectly is that I am more peaceful. I managed to build my own house using the first transfer transfers. I have acquired peace of mind after achieving one of my long term goals. I am glad that I have privacy because I no longer sleep in my mother inlaw's house unlike before. GiveDirectly removed the shame and mental torture that I was going through due to the inability to build my house."

"With a background and passion in veterinary work and farming, my plan is to rear indigenous goats that will be my financial security for future needs such as food, medication since am more prone to diseases due to my old age etc. I prefer goats for their resilience in drought as they can go for a couple of days without consuming a lot of water. They are easy to treat when sick unlike cows whose diseases are a bit complicated and expensive to treat. Goats multiply faster as they give birth twice a year compared to cows who do it once a year. They are also very marketable and more affordable as they cost as little as 1,500 shillings unlike cows which go for 13,000 shillings and above. Secondly, l would also like to buy furniture like chairs and curtains for my new house that my sister built for me. Lastly, I will save the remaining amount in my bank account till I get a good business venture that I can invest in. "

"Though my husband is a teacher with a relatively good salary, he has too many responsibilities in the family. His mother and siblings all look up to him for financial assistance such as for food, education, medication etc since they are not employed and only rely on casual jobs for survival. He is also servicing a loan he took to build our current home that cost him almost 600,000 shillings. With all this on his back, he could not afford to pay my college fees thus my studies had to take an abrupt halt. However, with Give Directly transfers, my dream of becoming a teacher will surely become a reality."

"With an unreliable income of just 3 dollars on a good day from my casual job of mixing sand and cement at construction sites, meeting basic needs such as food and education has been a nightmare. It has led to an accumulation of school fee arrears amounting to 46,000 shillings which is just out of our reach. My daughter has been unsuccessful in joining college due to this debt hanging over our heads because we have to clear so she can get her certificates. If only we could improve our financial situation then our lives would be better. "

"I was awakened up by a loud vibration from my phone. When I checked my phone it was around 3 am. I then asked my spouse to read the message for me since I am illiterate, he later told me it was an mpesa message from Give Directly. We were so excited because it was our first time receiving such a huge amount of money. Give Directly made our night that day."

"When I woke up that day, I found a message on my phone. I was almost sure that it was a message from the mobile service providers reminding me to pay my loan but when I read the message in details, I realized that it was from GiveDirectly informing me that they had sent the first transfers. I was very happy having received good news in the morning. I knew that I will be able to settle the loan and achieve my other goals easily."

"Maize farming is a major dependent venture for most people in my community. When the yield declines due to drought and soil borne diseases, malnutrition becomes rife and children drop out of school die to lack on income. Immunity become weak thanks to starvation. This perennial problem has made life unbearable and this is the biggest problem I've faced in my life. "

"I expect my life to change in the next six months in that my family will have enough food. I want to focus on my farm by making sure I adhere to the rotational method of farming. I have a list of food I want to plant on my farm for the whole year. I thank this organization for empowering me financially. I could not have achieved this dream without their help."

"My life will have changed in the next six months in that I will have started a dairy farming project. I am planning to use the savings I will be given in our table banking group to achieve this. Owning a dairy cow will save my mother the cost of buying milk daily. Also, my poultry keeping project will be running well and I will be investing the money derived from this project."