"Not having sufficient finances to enable me to take care of my family's needs is the biggest hardship that I face in life. For the past five years, the heavy burden of taking care of my six children lies heavily on me. My husband who used to help with the expenses got sick around that time and he has not been able to do any job. So strained is our finances that for the five years, my husband has been forced to live with the immense pain that he feels constantly around his stomach region since we can not afford medical costs related to seeking proper treatment. To make it worse, he also experiences excruciating pain in both his knees and legs to an extent that it becomes impossible for him to walk without support. Seeing him going through so much pain really hurts me because I feel I should do something to help him yet I do not have any way of doing so. In the end, I just end up locking myself away and crying since I do not want my children to also get affected by the whole situation."

"Being an employed as a casual worker it's always overwhelming as the employer takes advantage and gives a lot of hard tasks hence being a victim. My new goal is to save and through the I will use to buy a motorcycle purposely for motorcycle taxi business. After achieving this I will be my own boss thus I won't have to be employed in the private sector but rather focus in my business."

"Currently, my life is different in that I am self- empowered since I have a business that I had started with GiveDirectly's transfer hence it keeps me busy and I no longer get lured to engage in criminal gangs unlike before when at times I would be rendered jobless and idle around Mathare slums."

"Before GiveDirectly I used to depend on community jobs to support my family members and the income was meagre that I couldn't sustain my family's needs with ease. It reached a point where I was almost breaking down because I had debt here and there which I had failed to pay hence they would owe me using threats. I am yet to spent my recent transfer to enrol in a teaching course worth 40,000 KES. I believe through completing this course I will be able to get employed and assist my family with the provision of the basic needs. The remaining amount of money I paid school fees for my children and bought household items."

"Online business which includes online writing was my main source of income before GiveDirectly came and it used to have a lot of challenges such as fraud and late payments hence I couldn't save money to start a business because the income was meagre. My dream of being an entrepreneur seemed achievable. Currently, my life is different in that I have been able to start a popcorn business hence I am able to sustain my needs with ease."

"I am now a proud owner of a piece of land. I can now do farm in a big piece of land which means enough supply of harvest throughout the year. We can eat well and dress well due to the boost in the harvest. We can eat and sell the surplus to earn us more income for the family."

"I have plans of building a new house using the ones I bought previously. I managed to buy building materials to use in building a new house that my family will live in. It will be beautiful and spacious enough to accommodate my growing family. Previously, I used to live in an old house that would be infested with termites most of the time and it was so small it could not accommodate my large family."

"We are currently getting into the planting season and everyone is busy preparing their farms in preparation for the rainy season. I also have to work hard and ensure that my land is fully prepared before the rains come down. I expect to get a good harvest at the end of the season so that I can have enough food to feed my family moving forward into the unforeseeable future."

"I have a plan of starting a small scale business that I can rely on and use to sustain my family far much better than what the fishmongering business has been generating. The problem with relying on the fishmongering business is that it is unreliable, for instance, currently, there are restrictions on fishing because the number of fish have reduced significantly, so for the next few months we will have to do without the business until such a time when the fishermen are allowed back into the waters."

"I was woken up by a message on my phone early in the morning. On checking to confirm who the sender was, the message was from GiveDirectly informing me that my first transfer had finally been sent. I was filled with happiness at that instant and I am thankful to GiveDirectly for fulfilling their promise to us."