"When I saw a message from GiveDirectly around 5:30 p.m., I was ecstatic. When I checked the balance in my Mpesa account, I discovered that there was an additional $180. I informed my husband, who works as a chef at a nearby high school. He came home excited, and because all of our plans were in aligned, we picked up the entire transfer the next day."

"I received a Mpesa message around 4 p.m. that I later realized came from GiveDirectly after reading it. I was not worried, but rather excited, when we were told that the sender's name would be Segovia. I was with my spouse, who was just as excited to confirm that our account had the balance indicated in the message. Because my husband is my trustee, he accompanied me the next day to a nearby shopping center, where we collected the funds for our first purchases of construction materials."

"So far, the investment of a portion of the first transfer on livestock has made the biggest difference in my daily life. Our region's dry weather does not allow for active subsistence farming throughout the year, so livestock farming is the best fit. The purchase of goats that feed on both grass and shrubs is a simple investment that I had hoped to begin, but a lack of funds has always held me back. I live on my grandparents' property, while another part of my family lives on my father's property. I am hoping to do a lot with the remaining subsequent transfers from GiveDirectly."

"The most noticeable difference in my daily life since receiving the first transfer has been looking at the well-built fence surrounding my compound every morning. Despite the fact that I have not yet brought in any livestock, I am hopeful that the next step will be to ensure healthy grass growth in preparation for the purchase of a dairy cow and a goat. This has also made our work easier because my compound is no longer infested by the goats of my neighbors, who roam in search of greener pastures. Furthermore, GiveDirectly has improved my family's healthy eating habits after we refilled enough food for my family of three."

"The improved livestock farming is the biggest difference in my day-to-day activities. My goats have been dewormed, and I anticipate that they will grow well over the upcoming few months. Considering that the fence I am building will prevent them from destroying my farms' crops, I also have plans to curb the grazing frenzy."

"The biggest difference in life is that, currently, I am able to get food without much difficulty. Before, I was forced to stay without food for 2 days a week something that worsen my health problems. Furthermore, owning some livestock as an alternative source of livelihood is a great investment that would support me in the future."

"For quite some time, I had been taking risk of sleeping in a half-collapsed house. I took the risk since I had no alternative. During the rainy season, there was no difference between staying outside and being in that house; it was all the same. Upon getting the first transfer, the priority was the house. Therefore, I used $243 to put up a simple decent house that could comfortably accommodate me and my family. I am very humbled and happy for GiveDirectly because as we speak I am in the house you enabled me to build. Thereafter, I bought a bed and a mattress for $85 and $65 respectively. I did this because I had none at all and I used to sleep on some pieces of boxes. Since I depend on subsistence farming, I used $100 in tilling my piece of land and buying some seeds. Poverty had made me take some food items on credit so I paid $85 to a shopkeeper who used to give me some foodstuff. For the remaining little amount, I used it to buy some food for my family."

"The biggest difference in my life is that I am in a well roofted house not like before. This has restored the joy in my life since we will no longer spend sleepless nights due to the leaking roof. Moreover, I can provide for the basic needs of the family like food without any struggle and our kids no longer go to bed without food."

"When I received the cash transfer, my priority was constructing a more spacious house than the one I had as it was small and congested. Before, building a house was difficult given that I mostly depended on charcoal making, and the little money I earned could not even enable me to get some food on regular basis. Courtesy of the transfers, I spent $218 to build a bigger one-room mud-waaled house with an iron sheet roof. After that, I opted to build a house because I did not have a decent house. The house I had was very small, congested, and collapsing thus it was unsafe to dwell in. Thereafter, I bought a sack of maize for $62 so that I could have food security at home while concentrating on other things. Since I desired to rare some livestock, I used $110 to buy three goats. For the remaining amount, I saved for my upkeep."

"The only difference that I can speak of is that, before GiveDirectly came I was very skinny. The stress of missing food for at least two days a week and living in an unsacure house that was collapsing was eating me up. I am grateful because the food I bought after getting the first transfer has been sustaining me thus I gained weight a bit not like how I was before. Currently, I do not go without food since the time Ireceived the transfer."