"Your organisation has done us good . It is my prayer that God will bless you . I always wished to have my water back , and it is through Give Directly that it happened. Now I sell the water and earn a living . The best thing yo did is giving us non conditional transfers . How can I see wrong in good hearted people like you? Personally , everything you did was okay ."

"My husband and I assist each other in fending for our family of 8 children . He owns an electronics repair shop while I own a grocery shop , I also sell street food like 'githeri' . I really wanted to start goat keeping , so I spent $180 on 2 does which were being sold at $90 each . The does have since given birth and I'm already enjoying their milk . Later I can sell their kids when financial needs arise . I didn't have a water storage tank and this made me suffer during drought seasons , so I spent $30 on a 320 litre water tank . Also I used to feel embarrassed because my house had old fashioned chairs , I'm happy I was able to buy modern 6-seater sofa sets which did cost $50 . Right now my house looks presentable . So I took the old chairs to my kitchen and we now have enough space to sit while cooking . My 2 children who are in secondary school had arrears of $240 which I cleared . Finally I bought a nice dress worth $10 for myself because it had been long since I wore a new dress . Thank you so much Give Directly because without your money , I would have not achieved all these . May God bless you ."

"I have a young family of 1 child and a wife . I operate 'bodaboda' business and I recently started a business for my wife . I'm glad that we can now support each other to buy basic needs in the house . I spent $430 on 1 cow. I hope to start milking it soon and enjoy the milk with my family , ofcourse I'll sell the excess milk and be able to buy basic needs like food . I also bought 1 calf worth $100 and later sold it , that is the money I then used to start second hand clothes business for my wife . Currently , my wife is expectant so we have put the business on hold until after she delivers ."

"Give Directly does well to give people money for them to use it on whatever they choose . By so doing , it has eradicated poverty in this village . We really appreciate because we have manage to pay school fees for our children and also bought cows . Our children no longer stay at home due to school fees balances . There is nothing you are not doing right , everything about Give Directly is just good ."

"First of all , please accept my gratitude. Give Directly has benefitted me and many others in my village . It has changed the lives of people . People have bought livestock ,water tanks for water storage , paid school fees and build new houses . Your way of disbursing this money was well organised and you ensured that we received the money was sent directly from you since maybe if you send a different person , it would have been deducted . I'm contented with how you handled everything hence I see no area of improvement ."

"My goal is to start a grocery and salon business by February or March this year . I'm not sure how much capital it will need in total but I'm already saving the money I get from my casual jobs and hope that my husband will help me to top it up . I think that this village has good market since there are no many salons nor groceries yet . Especially salons , most ladies get difficulties in finding a place to make their hair and that is why I want to venture into it. Also these two businesses are usually very profitable , and I can be able to use the returns to buy basic needs for my family ."

"When my house crumbled last year, I was forced to move into my brother’s house, where I have been staying to date. Luckily, he works and lives in Mombasa with his family. It only becomes inconvenient when they visit the village and I have to look for another place to lay my head. To ensure this never happens, I plan on building a two-room house for myself. Gladly, I was able to obtain the main materials like iron sheets and building poles through previous cash transfers. I only need $150 for labor, which I will obtain by saving through my self-help group."

"My top priorities for this year are to buy livestock and upgrade the condition of my home. I put up with my house's rusty iron sheets being in bad shape the entire previous year. Every time it rained, my mother-in-law and I would spend the entire night shifting furniture around the house to keep it from being ruined by the rain water seeping in through the roof. This year, I intend to purchase two new iron sheets each month until I have enough to fix the roof completely. I'll feel better once the roof is fixed, and I can then concentrate on getting more livestock to add to the few I already have."

"I decided to start saving a portion of the money that I received over the last few months of last year. This was influenced by the fact that the house I live in at the moment is quite a disaster, especially the roof. During the rainy season, we normally have to put pots in the house so that it is not left flooded with water, and we end up staying up the whole night sometimes just because the roof is leaking from everywhere. This year, I plan to finally use the funds that I have been saving to build a proper house and install a new roof. This will be costly because I have a lot of material to buy, including timber and sand, and I also have to pay the laborers, but I am hopeful it will all turn out well."

"I make charcoal to supplement the monthly transfer from GiveDirectly.  I currently have two children in college, another one will soon begin secondary school, and the youngest is in primary school grade 8. Paying their school fees has been challenging, but I am grateful that the charcoal business has always provided me with extra income to help meet some of their obligations. Even though I am currently unproductive due to an eye ailment, I hope to recover in the coming year and double my efforts in charcoal burning to keep my children in school."