"Living in a polygamous family has affected my children's and my own prospects for success in life because my cowife and I are reliant on our husband Charo. My spouse struggles to provide a decent life for his family of twelve because he is dependent on part-time jobs in the town, which are scarce. Limited resources and income-generating opportunities are what are making my life more difficult right now."

"Unemployment is the biggest challenge I am currently facing. I used to work in a mining site as a casual labourer but unfortunately one of us died and led the site was closed. Securing another job has not been easy due to my level of education and now I depend on my lovely husband who works in town as a garder."

"At the end of each day, i make about $5 from palm wine tapping. This amount is not enough to feed my family of 5, and still take my 3 children to school. Everyday, I wish i had an extra source of income so as not to live from hand to mount like i do."

"Our culture! In our society, gender-specific activities are still affecting most females compared to males. Looking at the work women do, includes all the household chores like; cooking, fetching firewood, water, and other strenuous activities. Since we experience periodic drought seasons, as a woman, I am still forced to engage in casual jobs like charcoal work to supplement the little income of my husband. This has made me feel weak health-wise and I am currently worried about my health in the next few years. Thus, I consider the primitive culture as what makes my life harder."

"My greatest goal for the coming year and beyond is to purchase more livestock and poultry. Currently, I have six hens after losing many to Newcastle disease. Livestock are a valuable asset that increase in value over time. Once my herd grows large enough, I will sell some to meet my needs.To achieve this goal, I joined a savings group with 15 members where I save $10 monthly. Each month, three members of the group receive $50, which they can use to invest as they choose. The money I receive will help me purchase goats and work towards my goal."

"With a family of 8, i would need about $6 every day to sustain our household needs. However, I would only end up with $25 at the end of the week after selling between four and five sacks of charcoal -which is hardly enough income. This has made my life stagnant for so many years because I cannot get an extra amount to save in order to achieve other dreams like investment and education of my children."

"School fees for my nine children is the challenge I am currently facing in life. I do casual jobs with my husband making approximately $70 per month which caters for food and school fees. The first born is in college,three are in secondary school and five in primary school. As I speak now all the three children in high school are at home. They have two weeks at home . Their performance is affected."

"Watching desperately at my adopted daughter after having been sent home is something painful to me. Currently, she is in form one but this term has been so tough for me financially. She has spent one week out of school due to a lack of fees. Since I do not have a reliable source of income, I solely depend on my son to support her. His support has never been consistent because he has his family to take care of. This has worried me most because it will equally affect her performance in class. Additionally, I also go through food insecurity to my household and this has still affected my daughter's education since I cannot imagine going to bed hungry yet you have school work to cover. What a life!"

"It is quite difficult for my husband Rodgers to support a family of ten as the only provider. His monthly income is hardly sufficient to support the education of our children—two in primary school, one in college, and four in secondry. Having no other source of income sometimes forces him to take out a loan so that our children's education is not disrupted due to school fee arrears, and he ends up struggling to repay it. Lack of funds to provide for my family's needs is one of my current challenges."

"One of the most significant changes was in my relationships, particularly with my three friends. Before receiving the money, I was in debt to them, and it had really strained our friendship. Because I had taken so long to repay what I owed, they had stopped talking to me altogether. But once I received the money from GiveDirectly, the first thing I did was pay off those debts and this changed everything. My friends and I started talking again, and it was like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders.It has been such a huge relief, and our friendship is in a much better place now. This experience has taught me the true value of financial stability and the importance of maintaining good relationships and I can't thank GiveDirectly enough for making this possible"