"In the next one year, I am hoping to have saved enough money in a year to go back to school so I can figure out how to support my family financially since my child will be old enough to start school and I don't want to put her off."

"Before the transfers, I never had cows before as I had no source of income. I used the transfers to buy female cows for kshs 35,000. I decided to buy female cows for milk production for my family's consumption and sale. I do casual work to earn a living and most of the time the pay is too little to cater for my basic needs, I do top it up with the money from selling milk and this has enabled me to take care of other basic needs like food, clothing and kids school fees. I used the remaining part of the transfers to buy a piece of three-seater furniture. I used to fear hosting friends and relatives as I never had enough seats for them, but my self-esteem has improved since I started receiving transfers from GiveDirectly."

"In my opinion, what GiveDirectly does well in this program is that we receive the transfers in lumpsum amounts. This helps for planning purposes in the future. Another thing that GiveDirectly does well is that the unlearned recipients are taught how to use mpesa. This has reduced the number of theft cases in the community as most of us managed to change our pins to a more secure code. To avoid household conflict, what needs to be done differently is enrolling all the individuals in the household. During enrollment, those individuals who did not have responsibilities by then were left out of the program yet these are the same people who steal from their old and vulnerable parents. Another thing that needs to be done differently is enrolling all the communities in a specific village for uniformity purposes and this will prevent too many complaints coming from the communities that are left out during the registration."

"My goal currently is to buy new iron sheets in order to renovate my roof which is dilapidated and leaks when it rains. My target is 22 pieces of iron sheets which I am hoping to accomplish through the transfers. I will be saving part of the money to buy at least two iron sheets every month. I am also planning to buy livestock such as goats and chickens to keep in my compound. These are assets to me that I can readily rely on when they reproduce and increase in number. Through the livestock, I will be able to raise fees for my two children as they further their studies in the near future."

"I am so much grateful to GiveDirectly and how much it has been of great help to me and my family. Being a father of 8 and with two children who are still in their secondary and primary level of studies, I have received great support through GiveDirectly transfers. I have managed to support my two children in school quite easily without having to sell any of my livestock as I would do initially. Right now, I own more than fifty goats in my farm. This is to mean that I will be in a good position to sponsor one of my children who is joining college soon. My plan is to continue using the transfers that I get from GiveDirectly each month to pay school fees and meet other little needs for my family without having to sell some of my livestock. It has also helped me a great deal in making sure that I get back to my original position as a pastoralist. Initially, I had sold some of my livestock after I fell ill while working for a company in Nairobi. I fell ill to an extent of being admitted in hospital and undergoing a surgery too. This ate up all my resources until I had to resign and come back home to start all over again. I am so proud of the steps that I have taken. Despite the ravaging drought, I must admit that we have so many livestock that will enable us pay school fees for our last born son."

"The transfers that I have been receiving have been of great help in terms of paying school fees for my children, adding stock to my small business of selling mandazi(a form of fried bread) and also catering for my family’s needs. But my major goal is to expand my business to a big restaurant whose income would be sufficient to support my family without much struggle. I would never want the transfers to go in vain but to invest in something substantial that would help me generate income even in the future and provide my children with better education. To achieve my goals, I always set aside a little amount and by January next year, I want to have the restaurant in operation."

"I am grateful to GiveDirectly for the financial help. I almost halted my high school studies because I couldn't raise fees on time. I am happy that I completed recently though I still have an outstanding fee balance. My goal for the coming months is to clear this balance so that I can be allowed to collect my certificates, which are still withheld by the school. I am also planning to enrol into a computer college, to gain some skills over the next three months, which will cost Ksh.4000, as I wait to further my studies"

"I am currently in form four and I look forward to passing my national examinations later this year to proceed to the university. However, am worried that my father may face challenges in raising my college fees. As a house construction worker, his tasks rarely come by, which leaves him earning too little to sustain my six younger siblings and me. My plan is to support and start rearing livestock, which I can sell in the future to pay for my university tuition. Particularly, I hope to have acquired at least seven goats by the end of the year."