"My goal has been to build a new house. However, I live in a difficult situation. I live in a small house together with my six children. Unfortunately, I do not have a bed. I am optimistic that once I build a house, my children will get a better place to spend in, and this will restore my dignity among my community members. As a single mother, I have lived with pain to see my children living in horrible conditions. Apart from the house, I have a lot of needs to respond to. These include raising school fees for the children and feeding them. Once I build a house, I shall start raising livestock such as goats and chickens because they are precious assets in our community."

"I am caught up in poverty.I am taking care of sick and vulnerable people.I am also lame.I have to do casual labour to help out with the family and to cater for all needs."

"I am a casual worker; commonly known as "Jua-kali" here while sometimes taking care of animals for people. I hope that this year, God willing, I will become a businessman selling animals in the main market. I want to sacrifice every month so I can save for this business. I want to buy animals that I will use in this trade. I want to make sure by the time I am ending my time with GD I have something which I can rely on. I want to first start by buying chicken, and once I get to a certain level, I will incorporate the purchase of goats. I am hopeful that if I am in good health and have a life, I can achieve the goal of venturing into buying goats by August this year."

"Both my husband and I are peasant farmers and we have never been privileged to own a dairy cow. Buying milk daily for family consumption and especially for our child at $5 per day has not been an easy task for we do not ave a reliable source of income. Being enrolled in the program was a great opportunity for us to buy a dairy cow and at least own a domestic animal. I spend $40 to buy two dairy calves and spend the balance to buy two sheep. My husband and I are grateful for the financial aid that saw us achieve one of our greatest desires and we cant thank you enough as we look forward to start selling milk in the near future."

"At present the only challenges we are facing are lack of money to pay for our son's education and low food stock levels. George Mwitha, our son is in form 2 at Njelenje secondary school and it has not been easy for us to raise his school fees of $22 per term. With our monthly income of about $25, it brings us constant worry as to how we are to pay for his education. Additionally, our food stock levels are diminishing at a rapid rate for the 6 of us. From the 8 bags of maize which we got in April this year from our farm, we are only left with 2 bags for food and this brings us a reason to worry as to where and how we are to get food when this is done."

"Recently, I planted beans on a big piece of land and I am looking forward to harvest in February next year. Hopefully, I will get some good harvest and this means that I will be able to pay school fees balance for my son who will be joining high school next year."

"What GiveDirectly does well is empowering us through the unconditional cash transfers. I have seen people build houses, start small businesses, paying school fees for their children and generally changing their standards of living. This means so much to my community and we are super grateful for the support."

"What GiveDirectly does well is caring about our dignity. Most of the people in this community were living in very poor conditions in muddy houses with holes all over and with no beds. The transfers has changed lives of so many here and they are living a better life with dignity."

"Recently, I was walking around the village and I saw a lot of developments. People were able to build better houses, buy livestock, improve on their farming methods etc. The change is very visible and personally, I will say that what GiveDirectly does well is transforming societies. I did not see an area that you need to improve on and I will urge you to continue doing a great job that you usually do."

"Previously, I was living in a single grass thatched room with my three children. Being a single mother and the sole provider has not been an easy task as I do not earn much working as casual in the nearby farms. l ways wanted to own dairy cows as a boost of my income but I have never managed to raise enough capital to buy one. When I was enrolled in the program, I was very happy because I knew that I was going to achieve two of my greatest goals. I spend $220 to roof a muddy two bedroom house that I had build and the balance to buy two dairy calves. I am grateful that I have a better bigger house and I will be able to sell milk and earn income in the near future."