"It was around 4:00 p.m. when I received a message from Givedirectly confirming receipt of the first transaction. I was with my son, John, who also serves as my assistant, and when I heard the alert and opened the message, I had to call him to confirm. I was overjoyed to learn that I had received the first transfer, and he was overjoyed as well because we had been expecting assistance. I informed my husband, who had been feeling ill, and he was relieved that some financial hardships we had been experiencing would be alleviated. The following day, I collected the transfer with my son."

"I recall overhearing my neighbour coming over to my place to ask if I had also received money from GiveDirectly. I had not checked my phone for a while since I was busy with the house chore, I took the issue seriously and went to check immediately. Upon checking I realised that I had a Mpesa message showing I had received cash from GiveDirectly. This was the most refreshing news I had received in a while. I would be able to realise my goal of rearing my goats. I knew this was an immense blessing hence I was grateful."

"I was at work when I got my transfers. It was a typical day for me until I overheard my friends discussing the receipt of their transfer; I immediately reached for my phone to confirm whether or not what they were saying was true. When I received a text message confirming that I had received money from GiveDirectly, I was overjoyed. This was because I was confident that I would be able to meet the objectives I had set for myself earlier."

"I can vividly recall the moment that I got a text showing that I had received a sum of $550. I was at home relaxing. Then suddenly, I heard my phone ringing. Upon checking I was lost for words when I saw a message notification showing that I had received money from GiveDirectly. I was so happy and grateful for the support that came when we least expect it. I then told my wife and children who were equally grateful and relieved because he knew that we would accomplish our goals. We then embarked on planning."

"Knowing that I will no longer be paying rent for my shop every month is the biggest difference. This dream was not possible before due to school fees and responsibilities. I am also grateful that the transfer came at the right time of need when I had just given birth, as it allowed me to stock enough food which was helpful."

"In the coming year and beyond, I hope to purchase a quarter of an acre of land where I would build my home. At the moment, I am forced to rent which is very costly. Additionally, I intend to purchase one dairy cow which will provide readily available milk for the family. Similarly, I would like to take the extra milk to the milk cooler station where to earn extra income."

"I have no money to buy herbs at least $20 per month for my cow to produce enough compost or buying fertilizer for my farm, this has affected my harvest so much and eat once per day. I don't have good and clean clothes and shoes to wear, my house is very old and not clean, and all those affected my hapiness in life."

"Our living condition is not favourable because we have a small house for our big family of 7 , sleeping on the floor with all our children there is no privacy either for us nor our children who have to share the same room with us and among themselves boys and girls. The current season is not favourable for our crops we are not able to harvest because of the lack of rain and lack of fertiliser, we currently don't have any livestock to give us organic fertiliser, we have to work for others daily to be able to afford inorganic fertiliser which we can't get in big quantity as the money we work for is much lesser than the price of the fertiliser on the market."

"I currently face a challenge of sleeping in a bad conditioned shelter which allows a lot of coldness to hit us leading to malaria and came as a result of the stones that rolled from the hill and destroyed my house. Some of my children stay with my mother which I see as an inconvenience to the old woman."

"I am an orphan, living with my younger brother after my sister got married. I am a tailor by profession while my brother is currently a college student. Before I started receiving the GiveDirectly transfer, I would work hard in my tailoring shop and also sell clothes materials to support my brother in paying his college school fees. The amount of money that I used to get was so small. I was not able to pay the school fees on time. He sometimes would be sent home to collect the school fees and this was affecting his performance, since he would miss some lessons. Currently he is studying well and I hope to see better performance because I was able to pay $200 for his school fees. I also managed to buy two female goats worth $60 and since goats reproduce twice in a year, this would increase my source of income. I would be able to sell the young one to pay the school fees and meet any other emergencies that might happen. I spent $ 100 on boosting my tailoring shop, I added more stock and now my business is booming. The profits that I get now is much higher compared to when I had not added any or none. The remaining amount of money I spent on food and other basic household items that we were missing at that particular time."