"Living with my family of 6 in a single room is distressing. Our house, made of mud, poses risks during rainy weather. I struggle with insufficient funds to build a safer home for us. Relying on occasional casual labor jobs that pay a mere USD 2.3 per day is overwhelming, as this amount is inadequate to provide for essential needs like food for my family."

"We experienced an abnormal heavy rainfall 2 months ago which has resulted in rising levels of Lake Baringo. The water body has since found its way into the village displaced our farms, submerging maize plantations thus causing a shortage of food. Over this month I have had to sell my livestock to educate my 7 children and provide food for my family of 10. I am worried because this is not sustainable and will sink me into poverty."

"Upon receiving $200 from GiveDirectly, I was overjoyed and deeply thankful for their support. I had two pressing issues: food and education for my children. I have six kids, five still in school, so education has always been my priority. I see it as an investment for my family's future because, through education, my children will become competitive in the job market. I used $100 to pay school fees and send them bus fare, as they are closing next week. This allowed them to sit for their exams because I had received information that they were being sent home to look for money and would not have been able to take their end-of-term exams otherwise. I used $70 to address the food needs at home because we did not have enough to eat. The rest of the money went towards buying household items. I am very grateful for GiveDirectly's support because they helped my kids sit for their end-of-term exams."

"My goal in the coming year and beyond is to save enough money to purchase more livestock. Despite the huge responsibilities I have in financing my children's education, I am hopeful that I will be able to purchase more livestock with my savings. Even after the financial aid comes to an end, I will look back and be proud that I invested well. I will have an avenue to raise some income by selling some of the livestock and using the money to take care of my family. I am very happy and grateful for the financial support so far in helping me live a better life."

"Having enhanced the lighting in my house by purchasing the solar lighting system, my goal in the coming year and beyond is to purchase new furniture for my house. Currently, my house does not have enough furniture. Every time I have visitors, I am forced to borrow chairs and tables from my neighbors. To avoid this, I plan to purchase six plastic chairs and a table. These will allow me to comfortably host visitors and offer them a place to sit and rest. I am very happy with the financial support that has made my life better, and I look forward to achieving this goal to further improve our living conditions."

"My biggest challenge currently is the lack of money. We depend solely on casual work and livestock which gives us little for us to sustain our daily lives. However, I have always sought to do farming but my biggest challenge has been getting enough money to do so. I see this as my biggest challenge because I'm unable to progress in life and I feel I'm stuck in my current state. I feel I can do better but I don't have the ability to do so because I lack the resources which makes my life very difficult. I'm unable to provide my children with all their needs which really stresses me."

"Two months ago, we were displaced by floods and we lost everything we had in the house. We sought refuge at a relatives place in the next village and we are currently rebuilding our lives again. It has not been easy to relocate to another place as it drains both mentally and financially."

"I have been peacefully sheltering in my two-roomed house, but heavy rains and storms recently blew away the roof, weakening the entire structure and making it nearly collapse. I was always worried that it might unexpectedly fall on me. Since I didn't have the money to renovate it or build a new one, I had to endure living in it despite its condition worsening as days went by. However, I am grateful to GiveDirectly for coming to my aid by giving me the unconditional transfers. I'm happy to say that I'm now in the process of building a new spacious, decent iron-roofed house. I spent $400 on purchasing the materials, including 25 iron sheets, building poles, nails to complete this project, as well as meeting the labor costs. Additionally, I also have three children in school; one in high school and the others in junior school. I was able to pay $60 in school fees. I feel at peace having cleared the fee arrears for my children on time, and they are now comfortably in school. I used the remaining amount to buy food to ensure my family had enough to eat and never went hungry."

"The high cost of living has made it difficult to educate our two children in secondary and university. Since their early days in school until now, I've been depending on selling goats. This has depleted my stock leading to difficulty. Nowadays, I depend on neighbors and other relatives to raise school fees through community fundraising. It's also hard mobilizing people and getting enough money to pay for my children's education. It has affected me and I am worried about their future."

"My primary goal for the coming months is to renovate my house before it collapses. The stress of having a wall on the verge of falling has been overwhelming, especially given my current financial difficulties. To address this, I plan to use the savings from my monthly cash transfers, along with the modest profits from my small business, to fund the necessary repairs. I am hopeful that by the end of the year, possibly by October, I will be able to secure and stabilize our home, providing much-needed peace of mind for my family. I will be immensely relieved and happy as a mother once these renovations are complete, knowing that my children will be safe and comfortable."