"Before I was enrolled in the program, I had started building a permanent three bedroom house because the muddy one bedroom that I was living with my wife and four children was very small for us. Although I was hopeful that I will finish the project mid last year, I couldn't because I had to close my business of selling second hand clothes when inflation hit the economy hard. Therefore I spend both my first and second transfer to finish building up the house. Right now, I am glad that we have enough shared space for my family."

"Both my husband and I are peasant farmer and life has not been easy for us as we don't have a large piece of land that can give us a good harvest enough for our family. If we had a dairy cow, life would be much simpler as we would sell milk and earn some income but since we did not have the financial capability, receiving this money was a good opportunity for us own one. I spend $300 to buy a dairy cow, $120 to buy food and the balance to buy clothes for our children who had torn clothes. We are so grateful to GiveDirectly for making all this possible for us."

"In my own opinion, what GiveDirectly does well is doing follow up after every transfer, even though the transfers are unconditional, no one will waste the money in activities like alcohol drinking because they know they should be accountable on what the spend the money on."

"I am a house wife and my husband who is the breadwinner of the family is a casual worker. With him earning an average daily wage of $2 daily, he can only afford to provide basic needs like food and water and therefore, buying clothes for the kids is not a priority. This has left our kids with torn clothes that we bought them a year ago. I spend $21 of my second transfer to buy maize seedlings that I am planning to plant during rainy season, $60 to buy two goats and the balance to buy clothes for my kids and other household items such as seats, utensils etc. I am happy that my children no longer feel shameful while stepping out the house, this would not have been possible were it not for the transfers."

"Give Directly does everything well. You changed my name from homeless to a home owner. I used to sleep outside but now I have a piece of land and a house. Right now my village mates respect me. My neighbours have also bought cows and built good houses. Children who had dropped out of school due to school fees arrear are now back in school courtesy of Give Directly's money. There is no where to improve, keep up with the good work and may God bless you."

"Giving stranger unconditional transfers is the best thing you did. By doing this you ensured that everyone in our village solved their various financial problems. You know different people have different financial needs It makes more sense than deciding to build houses for people yet maybe someone already has a better house, but has a different need. Just continue helping people, economic times are hard out here. Maybe you can just issue phones for free and not deduct their costs from the second transfer."

"What a life! Being in a marriage for 10 years without getting a child was the greatest menace that contributed to the stress which has recently exposed me to high blood pressure. It was until the year 2000 that I conceived my firstborn. Although I am blessed with 3 children now, my life has never been the same because I went through cesarean procedures for all the 3 kids. This has affected my ability to take up heavy tasks, a situation that has stopped me from fully utilizing my energy. I have in many cases felt so down when I could not use my free time productively. The feeling of idleness due to my health condition has robbed away my joy as a responsible mother and I, therefore, consider this as my biggest challenge."

"My goal and hope is to start a business where I can sell vegetables, flour and shoes. I'm always development minded so I intend to start something that will bring development to my home. I'll need a capital of between $200 to $300 but since I don't have the money right now, I'll wait until my children secure employment so that they can support me with the required capital."

"GiveDirectly has excelled at giving us a chance to fulfill our dreams. The impact they have had on our lives is immense and we are eternally greatly and pray they continue to bless others"

"I hope to complete my house project before next year."