"Before the transfer, I had one dairy cow that I used to sell milk and use the money to take care of my family's needs. It was tough to get nappy grass and once in a while, I was buying hay that was expensive to maintain. The profits I get from the milk business were used to take care of my child and wife who is a stay-at-home mother. In addition to the milk business, I have a retail shop that helps out with paying bills. It is located in the village and most of the time the income is little. Receiving GiveDirectly money has enabled me to buy another dairy cow for $300 that I milk and sell, bought cows food with the rest of the money $250. This investment has enabled my cows to produce more milk, which I sell at $0.5 a liter. I get enough money to take care of my family and also stock my shop and I am grateful."

"If it were not for the transfers, my children and many more in the village will never have had a chance to proceed with their high school studies. Therefore, what GiveDirectly does well is empowering the society through the cash transfers. Another thing that I liked about GiveDirectly is their independence. I loved how you worked independently without involving local leaders. That made the whole process fair and free of corruption."

"GiveDirectly has really helped most of my villagers to deal with all the problems that they have. The unconditional transfers have not limited us to what we need to buy but it has helped us think critically and come up with ways that will better our tomorrow.Thank you so much GiveDirectly for filling the gap that we had."

"GiveDirectly's assistance went a long way toward improving our standard of living. It arrived just in time because I needed to pay my children's school fees. My husband and I are farmers. Additionally, I am a pastor at our local church. We have ten children, three of whom are adults. As a result, I spent $300 on school fees for my high school-aged children. I then spent $100 on two sacks of maize. Due to financial constraints, this was previously not possible since we depended on farming which was not productive due to weather changes. I am overjoyed and grateful that GiveDirectly's assistance has significantly improved my life."

"My for this year and probably next year was to open a second hand clothes selling business. Although I don't have a reliable job to raise that money, I have already started looking for casual jobs in the neighborhood to raise the capital. Achieving this goal means some sort of financial independence and giving my children quality education."

"My friend gave me a cow to milk and feed my children to avoid the high cost of milk. I was feeling bad that I am rearing cattle that I do not own. At times I could feel pressed with school fees and wished that this cattle could have been mine. It would have made my life easier, I will have sold one of them and clear school fees arrears for my daughter Diana. When I received my second transfers from GiveDirectly, my first agenda item was to buy a dairy cow with KES 35000. This brought joy to me and my family. My daughter Diana who was on her secondary school education was being sent home day in day out to fetch school fees arrears of KES 19000. With this money I managed to clear all her school fee balance and she was able to continue with her studies without any disturbance."

"Our main source of income is crop farming. I intend to lease out land and plant more maize. This will ensure that our family of seven will no longer experience food shortages. We will also sell surplus maize to earn some money for the family."

"I spent the recent transfers to start livestock rearing by purchasing 2 goats. This is a long-term investment that would support my family in the future whenever we face financial challenges. Currently, I am jobless and depending on my 2 children who have families to look at. In addition, I spent $180 to renovate our house which was about to collapse through the construction of strong stone pillars. Currently, I am happy that it is now semi-permanent and durable hence no longer needed to repair it frequently which is costly. Part of the remaining amount assisted me to seek proper medical assistance for my husband. He had a liver problem and by bad luck, he happened to pass away two months ago. I used the remaining amount to purchase enough food for the family due to the ongoing famine in our village."

"Givedirectly impacts us so much that we are proud of ourselves and in the communities.Let God almighty bless all our sponsors who don't know us but yet send us their hard-earned money."

"I'm an old retired clerk about 2 years ago with no benefit from the government.After my retirement, things began to get tough over the years. I couldn't afford to sustain my family financially and complete the house we are presently residing in.Therefore, with a little funding from this unique organisation, I was able to buy enough cement and some building materials for completion of the house which I'm forever greatful."