"My aim is to clear the $240 balance on the half-acre piece of land I bought and build a house on it so that my son and I can have our own compound. Particularly, I wish to construct a two-room house made of mud walls and a tin roof. Am certain that this will provide enough dwelling space for the two of us. However, since I do not have a reliable income stream, my main challenge right now is where to source the required funds.  "

"Before the cash transfers, my family would constantly suffer from hunger because the hustle of making and selling charcoal, which I depended on, could hardly put meals on the table daily. Sometimes, my two daughters, who both worked as housemaids would send me some money to buy food for my three grandchildren and me. This would serve us a few days before we returned to sleeping hungry. This is why my priority was buying foodstuff when I received the transfer. I opted to buy a 90-kg bag of maize, which provided daily meals for at least a month. Next, I spent $160 and $70 on a cow and two goats respectively. Although the prolonged drought has persistently dried up the vegetation in my area, I pray that this livestock survives until they reproduce and grow the herd. Owning the animals is the surest way I could support my needs in the future as I could easily sell them to raise cash. Also, I used $100 to help my son pay for his wife’s dowry. Since they married two years ago, my family has had difficulties in settling the dowry payments, something that has been intriguing our inlaws to take their daughter back. Though it is not fully settled, am happy that the threats stopped after I paid the money. Finally, after my household ran out of the bag of maize, I spent the remaining transfer to continue restocking food. To be honest, my household never missed meals for the entire year. "

"For me, Give Directly does best in upholding its principal role of giving cash transfers to needy people. My husband and I needed money to build a house but our charcoal-burning charcoal could not provide enough funds. By financing the construction of our new house, the cash transfers immensely transformed our lives, which we will deeply acknowledge for eternity. I only wish the cash transfers continued coming every now and then. "

"GiveDirectly does well in that the people in our community understood the project well because of the well-arranged training programs. This made most people invest their money well. I do not anything that GiveDirectly did not do well."

"The staff was able to visit us in our homes and treat us with kindness. The way the questions were asked, was polite. They are jovial staff and I felt safe talking to them."

"They taught us a lot about money. From the meeting, I got the feeling that they wanted the transfers to empower us. The lessons have helped a lot of us make wise decisions on how to spend the transfer."

"Before the transfer, I lived in a house that was not in good condition every day I would wake with the fear that it will collapse. I worked as a night guard getting a pay of $50 a month. This money was not enough to pay school fees for my children and transportation to and from work. Things were tough and most days we would take only one meal a day. Receiving this transfer has enabled me to build a house for my family, I now stay in a two-roomed house, bought furniture, and bought a dairy cow."

"GiveDirectly has made an incredible difference in our lives. Furthermore, the enrollment procedures were carried out transparently. We all received the unrestricted cash exactly as promised. Because our area is semi-arid, it is less productive; therefore, we are grateful for the financial assistance. So far, I have not observed any inefficiencies in the organization's operations."

"My prayer is that God grants me good health so that I can concentrate on other things rather than my health. If everything goes well, I'd like to buy another parcel to add to the one I already have. Furthermore, I hope that my grandchildren excel in their studies so that they can have a better future."

"My goal for the coming year and beyond is to grow my business to earn more money. I would like to sell clothes that would be in conjunction with the current business that I run. To achieve this goal, I intend to save money from my dairy business. I am confident that with hard work and dedication, my dream will come true."