"Food insecurity is the greatest challenge because I live in a semi-arid area. It has been two years since I last had a good harvest from our farms. I must work to get money to purchase equally expensive food. I take two meals a day when I have money otherwise it is most once. This becomes a problem and it deteriorates my health as I lack enough nutritional food."

"The cost of living has increased to the extent that I cannot meet all the basic needs of my eight school-going children. I rely on business profits to make ends meet, but this year it has been tough and I have $500 in school fees arrears. Come January, I will need $1000 to send them to school but with the little income, I get stressed up knowing they may fail to go on time for their studies."

"Making sure that I use the money I get to keep my kids in school is my top priority. My three children, who are still in school, frequently experience being sent home and must spend extended periods of time at home. Since I've been sleeping on a traditional bed made of sisal for years at this point, I was also expecting to utilize the money to buy myself a bed and a mattress. The traditional bed prevents me from sleeping on the ground, but it is not as comfy as one might hope. Additionally, I wanted to purchase some farm animals, especially some goats and fowl, since they come in handy when I am in need of financial aid in the future."

"My main objective for this year is to increase our family's income. I currently support my family by farming for subsistence, but due to the severe drought, we hardly ever have enough farm output to last the entire year. In addition, I periodically burn charcoal for sale to enhance agricultural output, but there is little market for it because practically everyone in the village operates in the same way. My objective is to open a modest kiosk where I'll sell groceries. Due to its often great demand, it is more profitable."

"The year before last year, I managed to acquire a motorcycle on loan. The owner of the bike and I agree that I will pay him in installments over the years until I finally settle the debt. I have so far managed to pay more than half of what I owe, and I want to ensure that by the end of the year I am finally done with the payment. I also want to save up my money so that I can finally buy livestock. My intention is to take care of the livestock and breed them, and then finally I can sell them and build a better house for me and my family."

"My long-term goals include more of investing on my farm where I can be able to make a living off it. I plan on buying a couple of farm animals which include goats and poultry as well. I would have definitely loved to be able to buy cows as well but unfortunately they are costly. I will also use the part of the transfers to ensure that I cater for my child's education as well. Apart from that, since my kids are also growing up I was thinking that I could use the finances to build another room so that they can have their own privacy."

"I decided to start saving a portion of the money that I received over the last few months of last year. This was influenced by the fact that the house I live in at the moment is quite a disaster, especially the roof. During the rainy season, we normally have to put pots in the house so that it is not left flooded with water, and we end up staying up the whole night sometimes just because the roof is leaking from everywhere. This year, I plan to finally use the funds that I have been saving to build a proper house and install a new roof. This will be costly because I have a lot of material to buy, including timber and sand, and I also have to pay the laborers, but I am hopeful it will all turn out well."

"Everyone should have a cozy home, but in my situation, this has not been the case. The insects that fall from my roof prevent me from ever getting a restful night's sleep.The roof of my house is constructed of grass, and it has bothersome insects in addition to leaking every time it rains. I want to build an iron-roof house this year. It is strong and can last me more than 20 years. To do this, I will need a total of fourteen iron sheets. I've so far purchased six pieces, and I'm hoping that by the end of the year, I will have acquired enough to build the roof. I wouldn't have been having such a dream if it were not for the payments because my charcoal business doesn't bring in much money"

"I lost my sight 40 years ago after being struck in the head with a machete by an estranged wife. Because I can't take care of myself, I view this as having been and continuing to be my challenge for many years. Despite the fact that they have their own families to care for, my grandchildren are the only people I rely on to take care of me. This makes me sad a times since they struggle also to cater for their families. Due to my condition, I haven't been able to construct a decent home for myself, and as a result, this semi-permanent building is currently in poor shape and is also quite small and freezing at night. Since I must rely on others for everything, including sitting down, I often feel depressed."

"The challenge that I am currently facing has to do mainly with my housing condition. I borrowed this house from my grandparents before they passed on and they allowed me to settle with my family here despite the house having a leaky roof and cracked mud walls. It's nightmare to live because it is too cold at night and inhabitable when it rains. I can't afford to carry out any repairs now because the effort will be worthless, the house is already too old and it's not worth. You'll sort out one problem only to realize another. We depend on selling small household items in a small kiosk here in the village and it can only sustain our food needs this makes us to shelter in this house because wee have no otherwise."