"Having successfully received the funds from GiveDirectly, I set my mind to finally building a house for myself. It has two bedrooms and a verandah. While this might sound like a small feat to many, it's hard to explain just how big a milestone this is. Numerous recipients in the area have similarly found themselves in a position to have a roof over their heads. Financed, still, from the transfers from GiveDirectly, I then proceeded to buy 2 female goats. These will eventually mate with others, and hopefully, a source of income will emerge as a result. Stocking up on food and repaying my $400 loan were amongst the final purchases I made thanks to GiveDirectly. Working as a scone and bread packager for the last one and a half years at Neema Mill Bakers, it would have been a near-impossible feat for me to service the said loan comfortably. I earn $ 100 per month which is all we have to spread between my stay at home wife, myself and our three month old baby. Little is left for savings. Fortunately, our 7-acre farm produces enough cereals and coconuts for our domestic use. It is evident the immense impact that GiveDirectly has had on our life as a family. Our lives have been transformed for the better."

"My main line of business is primarily selling clothes. I sew and sell both male and female clothes. The variety in styles is endless, ranging from trousers to t-shirts to deras and vitenges, all of which I make and sell in Kilifi. I rent out a shop for $50 per month. The transfers from GiveDirectly enabled me to expand my business by purchasing more clothes as well as pay the aforementioned shop rent. The shop also serves as our residence. My husband and my one-week-old baby share a bed with me. At the moment, my husband is unemployed. He used to be a track driver but fell ill in August 2022 and is still recovering. The funds from GiveDirectly were partly funneled towards his medical expenses incurred during his month-long stay. In addition to this, I made sure to spend some of it on food for our upkeep. It's fair to say that GiveDirectly provided us with much needed relief from our financial hardships we had been in."

"When i go to university, my life will be much better. With the community that i find myself, our main source of income is farming and the poverty level is so high comparing it with people who are educated, it's much better. I have 3 brothers and 4 sisters where i am the second child and 27 years in the family. If i attend and complete university, i will definitely be a help to them and my entire community."

"The most significant difference is that the organization transformed my life. This is because I was able to build a decent house for my family, which would have taken a long time to save up for. Second, unlike before, we now have clean water for daily consumption, as opposed to having to go to the stream or buy water."

"The biggest difference in my life today is that my son is in school and studying comfortably. Second, I was able to tile up the floor of my house which was a challenge before, due to financial constraints. I'm so happy and content with the accomplishments so far."

"Destruction of my garden full of onions in the months of October and November of 2022. The rains were so intense and they ended up resulting to mudslides. The mudslides carried away most of my crops and taking away all the topsoils that had fertilizers in them. This led to very poor yields even right now we did not harvest more than 7bags of onions and yet in the past years we would harvest about 15bags. Our garden that had beans was so destroyed. This has resulted to hunger and currently do not have enough food to eat and also secure the food for February."

"I used $500 to buy food for my family, another $1000 to buy clothes for my children and another $1000 to improve our home. $1000 was used to improve my farming practices and the remaining amount was used to buy a heifer. Buying a heifer was on top of my priority list since I had a piece of land where I would take care of it in there. I had been unable to do all these investments since I depend so much on farming that earns me very little amount of money hardly enough to make ends meet."

"When I was told that I would be among the beneficiary of GiveDirectly, I felt that it had lifted a heavy load off my back. This is because I am a mother of nine and I depend on farming and selling vegetables to make ends meet. My husband left for the capital, but the unfortunate thing is that he neglected us and chose to remarry. It left me to fend for my children single-handedly. Life has become unbearable because of the economic status of our country today. Upon receiving my transfer, I used $450 to build a decent house for my family. The one that I had was very old and weak. It was not easy to renovate before due to school fees and responsibilities. Secondly, I bought maize and saved the rest for school fees needs. I am so happy for the support that impacted my life positively."

"My husband and I were getting ready to visit my sick sister-in-law on the day I received my transfer. I heard my phone ring just as we were about to leave. When I checked, I discovered that I had received funds from GiveDirectly. This was the most joyous day of our lives. My husband and I couldn't contain our happiness. I recall him doubting what I had told him and instead reading the message himself. We were grateful because we knew we could do a lot with the money."

"The biggest difference in my daily life is that I have peace of mind. This is because I was able to clear school fees for my children. Additionally, I got able to continue with the construction of my house, which was pending for a long time. It is a blessing to achieve so much in such a short period."