"I have five children, and we all share a small house. My plan is to build a new house so my children can have their own space, and we, as adults, can have ours. To achieve this, I intend to balance my transfers between paying school fees for my children and purchasing building materials for the house. This way, I can gradually construct a new house for them. Additionally, I aspire to own cows for plowing my farm. To accomplish this, I have been buying chicken, hoping they will multiply. In the future, I plan to trade the chicken for goats, let the goats multiply and increase in value, and eventually trade them for cows. Achieving these goals means a lot to me and will bring me great happiness."

"To improve my financial situation, I plan to start a business selling electrical items in Mombasa, where I live. However, I need to clear my college debt first because the school is holding my certificate until I do. Once I pay off the debt, I can focus on setting up the business. With my knowledge of electrical items and experience in the field, I believe this business will be successful. It will help me get the supplies I need for my electrical jobs and attract customers by offering quality products and services. By using my industry connections and getting referrals from friends and colleagues, I expect the business to grow quickly and succeed."

"I was hopeful that we will live a decorated life after planting maize on my 2 acre piece of land and vegetables on the other remaining piece of land. It all started as normal rains but little did we know that it will cause havoc and distress to our life. Our village is sandwiched by the river Molo and river Perkerra which is the main source of water to our farms. I remember that fateful night when the rains poured and the whole village was flooded, the rivers had broken their banks. Sadly, my farm was not spared as it was swept away and crops destroyed. My dream of having a bumper harvest was shattered. In our region crops mature in three months, if not floods I would be expecting to harvest my maize in the next month. We are now living in agony and worries of experiencing acute food shortage."

"I have set everything else aside to focus on saving enough money to recover my lost certificates. Although I am trained in Early Childhood Education, I cannot get a job without these documents, which is incredibly frustrating. Every month, I save part of my transfer to accumulate the necessary funds to process my certificate to enable me process my Teachers Service Commission number. The lack of these documents has caused me significant frustration, and I am determined to resolve this so I can work as a trained teacher. Initially, I considered starting a business, but due to the pressing need to secure a job, I decided to focus all my efforts on retrieving my certificate."

"I reside in an ASAL (Arid and Semi-Arid Land) area where I regularly confront severe weather challenges. Recently, my area experienced devastating floods that resulted in the loss of my seven chickens, two goats, and one-acre bean farm. To recover, I am now compelled to borrow loans from SACCOS (Savings and Credit Cooperative Societies) to reinvest in agriculture, which is my primary income source. The loss of my hard-earned labor to the floods has deeply saddened me, especially considering the significant progress I had made towards achieving self-sufficiency."

"Financial constraints continue to be my greatest challenge. Owning a cow has always been a dream of mine, yet it remains out of reach. I have fenced my compound and the grass has grown tall. It's difficult to see my neighbors' cows grazing there, because I wish it were my own providing milk for my children. Despite these challenges, I hold onto hope that one day my dreams will be fulfilled."

"I own 2 acres of idle land that I am unable to develop due to financial constraints preventing me from clearing the bushes and planting crops for commercial use. It is disheartening not to see the land prosper like my neighbors'. Given the opportunity to invest in commercial agriculture, I would be thrilled to finally realize its potential."

"It was around 4pm on my way back from the salon, having just finished getting my hair done, when I heard a message notification on my phone. Upon seeing it, I was very excited – it was the cash transfer from GiveDirectly. I rushed home to share the news with my mother, who was just as thrilled as I was. The first thing we thought about was how we could finally buy a piece of land of our own, as we currently live on family land with my grandmother. We decided to wait another four days before withdrawing the money, allowing ourselves time to plan on how we were going to spend the money."

"I was resting late in the evening after a day of activities, and I had given my phone to my helper. At that moment, she approached me and informed me that I had received an M-Pesa message. Upon checking the contents, I discovered that it was my first transfer from GiveDirectly. I felt happy and thanked God for the blessing. For years, I have longed to build a decent house for myself but could not achieve this dream due to lack of funds. This was now the opportunity for me to change my life by building a new iron-roofed house, and I couldn't wait to withdraw the money the next day."

"Being a mother and a father at the same time is the biggest challenge am facing right now because I only depend on casual labour and charcoal burning to feed my family of 3 children, cloth them and to give them quality education."