"I am a woman on old age who suffers from old age dieseases like inability to walk long distances, backaches and all sort of diseases. For such kind of problems I have been facing , I was recommended by the doctor to keep warm and make sure my house is warm each and every time. In the struggle to keep warm ny house fell down due to the rains last month leaving me homeless for a while. But I am grateful for my children who know about my condition and decided to build me another proper house."

"As a family consisting of 12 members, we encounter numerous challenges ranging from food insecurity and inadequate shelter to the inability to afford school fees. These difficulties stem from the fact that both my husband and I rely on sporadic employment to support the family. For more than a decade, my husband has been engaged in occasional work in Kilifi. Unfortunately, the earnings from his labor are insufficient to cover the family's needs. As a result, I have also taken on additional activities, such as charcoal production, part-time farm work, and obtaining goods on credit to supplement our income. Food insecurity is a pressing issue for us, as we do not have our farmland and are required to lease plots in Magogoni A village for $200 per acre per year during the rainy season. This expense is burdensome for our family, often leading us to lease smaller plots than we need due to our limited financial means. Consequently, our crop yields are low, forcing us to rely on purchasing food items from stores, which is financially unsustainable. With our large family size, the demands on our limited resources are overwhelming, often leaving us unable to adequately provide for everyone's needs."

"My spouse, William, is the sole breadwinner, operating a motorcycle taxi in town. His daily income of $3.88 falls short of providing for our family of 5. In my determination to contribute, I've taken a casual job at the quarry, earning $18.64 every two weeks. Despite this, we are still struggling to meet basic needs like housing. The primary challenge we are confronting is the lack of sufficient income to sustain our family's needs."

"In our society, there are some jobs which were considered to be gender-specific ones. As a woman, one was not expected to participate in and this include working in a quarry. This is because, it is a very tough work that requires a lot of energy. Today, this is not the case again since most women in our area are engaged in such activities. This work has a lot of challenges including late payment and health-related problems. Imagine working in the quarry for seven years now, it has been a time of struggle since I lack other jobs to earn me income. In a day, I receive $3.1 which we are paid on monthly basis. Sometimes, it can delay for three months. This makes me financially unstable and I consider this to be my biggest challenge."

"When I received the transfer, I carefully planned how to use the money to improve our living situation. The first thing I did was buy 20 iron sheets for $220. Our house originally had only two rooms, and we needed more space. With these iron sheets, I started extending a new room, adding a third one to our home, as the two existing rooms were getting too cramped for our growing family. I am currently training to become a tailor, and I knew that having my sewing machine would be a huge step towards starting my business. So, I used $30 to deposit for a sewing machine. I hope that by the time I complete my training, I'll have saved enough to fully pay for the machine and begin my tailoring business. There is a small piece of land that we bought earlier but hadn't completed the payment for, so I used $150 to settle the outstanding amount. Once I have my sewing machine, I plan to start my business there, working from the land that we now fully own. With the remaining amount, I addressed some immediate needs for my family. I bought a new mattress for $50, which was much needed as the old one was worn out and uncomfortable. I also spent $30 on my daughter’s school fees, ensuring she continues her education without interruption. The little that was left went towards buying household food items to keep us going. With these decisions, I feel like we are moving forward as a family, slowly but surely, making progress toward a more stable and secure future."

"It was on the 14th of July, around 4 pm, just after church when I was having lunch, that I decided to check my phone. There, I saw a message that made my heart leap with joy—I had received money from GiveDirectly! My first thought was to call my husband, who was away from home, to share the wonderful news. He was just as thrilled as I was, and we immediately began planning about what we could do with the money. We decided to extend another room to our house and finally buy a sewing machine, something we had wanted for so long. It felt like a new beginning for us."

"I remember it was around 3 p.m., and I was out in the field grazing my cows when I received the message. I saw the notification pop up on my phone and, to my surprise, it was from GiveDirectly, showing that I had received an unconditional cash transfer. My heart filled with joy, and I couldn't stop smiling. Later that evening, when I got home, I shared the news with my son. He was just as excited as I was, and we both knew that this money would finally allow us to build our house and pay his school fees. It felt like a blessing that came at the perfect time."

"The biggest difference in my life right now is that I have been able to build a house for my sons, which is something I never thought I'd be able to do. Before receiving the unconditional cash from GiveDirectly, my sons had to sleep at their uncle's house or sometimes even at the neighbors' because they didn't have a place of their own. Now, I'm in the process of building a two-roomed house with a verandah just for them, and I can't express how happy I am to see it coming together. I can't wait to complete it and finally give my sons a home they can call their own."

"I don’t have a husband—he left me a long time ago—but I have three children and one grandchild. Fortunately, I have a son who is employed by the Baringo County Government, and he has always supported me by paying school fees and sometimes buying us food. However, when I received my first transfer, I decided to relieve my son of the burden of school fees since he also has a family to take care of and many other expenses. I paid $100 toward school fees.Additionally, I used $80 to purchase food because we sometimes lack food and have to rely on casual jobs working on other people's farms. Life wasn’t too bad before, but I did these casual jobs because there are certain things I can't ask my son for out of respect, like personal items such as underwear, so that’s why I needed to earn some money on my own.With the remaining $20, I bought two plastic chairs since I only had two and wanted to add more. I am sincerely very grateful to GiveDirectly, and may God bless you."

"Food insecurity is the biggest challenge because of unpredictable rain patterns. We hardly harvest anything when we depend on the rain for farming because it is not sustainable at the same time practicing irrigation farming is expensive because the source of water is five kilometers. I currently do a motorbike taxi to ensure my family does not lack anything."