"In the five months before receiving the transfer, I rarely smiled. I often went hungry due to the stress of not having food at home, and the floods had destroyed my maize farm, which was almost ready for harvest. This was incredibly disheartening. However, when the money arrived, it brought me immense joy for the entire week. I used $90 to invest in agriculture, preparing the land, planting, and weeding my beans. I anticipate that when they ripen and are harvested, I will yield around 540 kg, which I plan to sell at $1 per kg. Additionally, I have struggled with the high cost of buying milk daily. To reduce these expenses, I allocated $40 to purchase a goat that is close to giving birth, so I can have milk at home instead of buying it from the shops. I mostly rely on casual jobs for food, so to focus on farming with peace of mind, I used $50 to ensure we have enough food at home. Finally, with the remaining $20, I bought clothes for my three children and my husband, who is also a charcoal burner. The floods had completely destroyed all our clothes, leaving us with only what we were wearing that day."

"My family is now happy and enjoying plenty of food at home, something we never had in large quantities before. I am grateful for the help from GiveDirectly and deeply appreciate their support. Our health has also improved, and I’ve been able to reduce our fee arrears. My two children in secondary school are attending classes, and I hope they won't be sent home anytime soon. I can now focus on preparing my farm, which was destroyed by the floods, without the stress of constantly searching for food."

"Sometimes I stressed over what to eat and couldn't invest in anything, as I was often just focused on finding food. But I am incredibly thankful to GiveDirectly for transforming my life. I now own goats, which I never thought would be possible, and I am truly grateful for that. Food is also sufficient in my house now. Previously, the children would sometimes skip lunch and we ate only one meal a day, but now we have three meals a day."

"Initially, I had two sheep that I had acquired a year ago after selling my maize. I didn’t bring them home because they were just two, so I decided to keep them at my neighbor's place. When I received the transfer, I allocated $140 to buy three more sheep and bring the two from my neighbor so that all my sheep could be at home. I chose to invest in sheep because I love them, and in this village, everyone owns livestock. I saw it as a good opportunity to be like them and to have an asset that I could sell in case of an emergency, plus it would provide sufficient milk for my family. Life hasn't been easy, especially when it comes to feeding my family of six. We mainly depend on farming, and while waiting for the crops to be harvested, my husband and I burn charcoal as a part-time job. We allocated $30 from the transfer to purchase food. Finally, I used the remaining $30 to buy new clothes for my family. We didn’t have many clothes, and it was especially hard for the children, who each only had two outfits. Since they play and get dirty easily, they needed to be changed at least twice a day."

"On Sunday, around 3 p.m., I was at church when I received a message on my phone confirming that I had received cash from GiveDirectly. I immediately went outside because I couldn't contain my happiness and just needed to breathe in the fresh air. I was super excited and thought to myself, 'Tomorrow, I must go to town to buy iron sheets so I can start constructing a better, small temporary house.' This was especially important because I had been living in tents ever since my house was destroyed by floods."

"The biggest difference in my life right now is that I finally have something to call my own—two sheep that I bought with my own money. Before, I only had three sheep that were left to me by my late husband, and while they are technically mine, they never really felt like they belonged to me in the same way. But these two sheep are different. They are something I chose and purchased myself, and that gives me a sense of pride and ownership I didn’t have before. These sheep represent more than just livestock; they symbolize my independence and I cannot be grateful enough to GiveDirectly."

"I was doing a casual job on my neighbor's tomato farm while leaving my phone charging at home. Upon returning and checking my phone, I saw a message confirming that I had received my transfer of $200 from GiveDirectly. I was overjoyed and in shock, as I had never received such a significant amount on my phone before, not even since I started using Mpesa services. I eagerly waited for my husband to come home so I could share the exciting news with him."

"After my two children, a boy and a girl, were sent home for school fees two days before the transfers, I was desperate. I didn’t have the money and was about to sell my goats to raise the funds. Fortunately, GiveDirectly's support arrived just in time. I used $100 from the transfer for their fees, giving $50 to each child to reduce their arrears. We have five plastic chairs, but with a family of eight and frequent visitors, they often aren’t enough. So, I decided to use $48 from the transfer to buy four additional plastic chairs. I had also planted maize on my 5-acre land, but the floods that struck our community didn’t spare my crops; I lost it all. Knowing that maize is our staple food, I decided to use the remaining amount from the transfer to purchase two bags of maize, which will sustain us for about three months."

"Before receiving the transfer, life was incredibly challenging. I didn’t have money, and I had lost my maize and vegetables to floods, which I was relying on for income. With my children’s school fees due, and since they had been sent home two days before the transfer, we were planning to go to the school and speak to the head teacher, unsure of how we’d manage to pay afterward. The total fee was $110, and it felt overwhelming. However, thanks to the GiveDirectly transfer, I was able to reduce that amount significantly, and now I’m only left with $30 to pay for this term. This has brought me relief and peace of mind."

"With my first transfer, I decided to buy two sheep, each costing $60. Compared to goats, sheep are easier to manage because they are calm and require less care, especially since many people in the area have invested in crop farming, which limits grazing fields. This purchase also serves as a future investment for me. Additionally, I bought a bed and mattress for my two children, totaling $56. We had been sharing a bed, but with the arrival of my newborn, there wasn't enough space for all of us. Consequently, the children had to sleep on the floor, which was unsafe given the cold season. As a new mom, food was essential, so I used the remaining funds to buy a variety of food. I am grateful to GiveDirectly for their timely support."