"Since I still live in my fathers land, my goal this year was to work hard so that I can buy land to build a house for my family. Accomplishing this means that my family will have somewhere to call home and we will enjoy our privacy as family."

"I would say the transfers have united people in the village because many people were able to start small businesses around. In my opinion, I would say what GiveDirectly does well is uplifting the poor through unconditional financial aid which in turn unites people. I haven't seen an area where you need to improve just keep up with the good work."

"Since my daughter will be joining high school next year, I have more on my plate and my goal this year is to save toward school. Because I am a casual worker, I am planning to work as much as I can so that I can save more. Accomplishing my saving goal will mean that my daughter will be able to join high school and she will achieve her academic goal in for years time and later in tertiary institution."

"I am a teacher and before receiving the transfers, I used to walk for 12 kilometres to and from school everyday. I used to get home tired that I couldn't engage in any productive activity like looking for feed for my cows. When I received the transfers, I thought it was a good idea to buy a motor bike to ease my movement to and from school and also assist in ferrying napier grass for the cows. I spend my my second transfer to purchase a motorbike worth $500 and the balance to buy food for my family. I am so happy that I no longer get home tired and I can do some other activities like fetching water and carrying napier grass from the farm to home for my dairy cows."

"Before the transfer, I had a family issue due to a land dispute and I needed $700 to settle the dispute. I spent $300 to pay for a lawyer and paid school fees of $230 for my niece and nephew. I take care of them ever since my brother died who was the caretaker of his family. I am a fisherman and most days I get $10 a day from selling various fish at the hotels near the beach. I have one child who is not yet in school. This money has been helping me buy food and pay school fees for my niece and nephew Paying school fees for them has been challenging since two are in secondary and one is in the university."

"GiveDirectly is a blessing and whenever they visit us in the village I get excited. I am happy someone somewhere does care for people like us struggling in life."

"I am happy when I GiveDirectly staff visit me. Whenever I get an sms from them they make my day."

"I started building a house for my family with the first transfer I received. I wanted a bigger house because my previous house was small for us, the children did not have a bed and they would sleep on the floor. The house is not yet complete because it needed $300. My long term this year is to finish building and settle in."

"I would like to own three cows that will help me get milk for both commercial and domestic purposes. Milk is a necessity in our village and if I can get $1000 I can buy the cows and start the journey."

"My hope is to start a small shop business for my husband. This is because he is a temporary casual laborer in house construction and at the moment it is hard to get any work and he can stay up to 2 months without any engagement. Accomplishing this ambition will help him to have a reliable income-generating activity that would assist us to supplement our earnings from the food outlet."