"Currently, I'm facing a lot of challenges. However, the most pressing challenge I'm facing at the moment is the sickness that has made it difficult for me to work and provide for my family. I haven't been able to go to the hospital because of a lack of money which has made it even worse for me. I'm in a lot of pain which makes life almost unbearable."

"While my spouse Kazungu earns $10 a week as a cleaner, I operate a small business and make $1 per day.Our combined income is insufficient to educate our children and provide food for a family of eight. Consequently, the difficulties I am currently facing stem from not having enough money to meet my family's basic needs."

"Lack of reliable source of income is the current challenge I am facing in life. I do casual jobs which are rare to access making approximately $60 per month which caters for food and school fees for the children. Sometimes the children miss classes due to lack of school fees."

"Housing is the challenge I am currently facing in life. My husband and I lives in a two room semi permanent house that has stayed for over 35 years now. The mud walls are now weak and can be brought down by strong winds anytime. It is risk living in this house."

"I own a retail shop and a posho mill in the village, but the revenue from these businesses is inconsistent. One reason for this is that the prolonged drought in the area brought on by climate change has discouraged people from harvesting maize, which has decreased the number of people visiting the posho mill.Furthermore, the majority of customers in my retail store will purchase items on credit rather than paying cash because the majority of the local population does not have a reliable source of income. Due to the lack of revenue from these businesses, it has become increasingly difficult to provide for the majority of my family's basic needs."

"Once this financial aid comes to an end in the future, I want to be in a position where I will have financial security and can totally rely on myself. To achieve this, I want to keep on saving my transfers from GiveDirectly in our local savings group, and once they mature, I will use the money to buy more goats. I am hopeful that these goats will multiply and increase in number and value so that in the future, when I am faced with pressing issues in our family, I may be able to sell them and help my family out. I am glad about this envisioned future that I have, and I am hopeful that I will be able to achieve it so that I may have the financial independence that I have always longed for."

"My house is in a very poor state where the roofing is made of nylon covers, and this is really depressing. I want to improve the roofing from nylon to iron sheets. My plan is therefore to keep saving my transfers in a merry-go-round savings group where we pool funds together so that when it is my turn, I may use the pooled funds to buy the iron sheets and give my house better roofing. Having a better-roofed house will make me very happy, and I am hopeful that this will come true. In addition to improving my home's roofing, I also plan to keep using part of my transfers to buy more chickens and, if possible, goats with hopes that they will multiply and increase in number, and I can then sell them and use the proceeds to buy small cows. These cows will be a great source of income in the future, as once they grow and increase in size and value, I can sell them and use the money to provide for my family."

"I had mentioned before that I wanted to build a new house for my family, as the one we have right now is old and deteriorating and will soon collapse. To achieve this, I intend to use a portion of the transfers I've received and top it up with my earnings from my charcoal-burning hustle and casual jobs. Once the house is complete, I want to start a kiosk business next year using proceeds from my hustles and part of the transfers as well. This business will generate daily income, which will help with our daily family needs. Finally, livestock farming is also a great asset that I have ventured into, and where possible, my plan is to add more of these animals with hopes of them multiplying and increasing in number so that in the future, they will be a great source of income for my family and help in educating my children."

"I can remember that day very clearly. I had gone to Marigat to seek medication as I was feeling unwell. Immediately after my appointment, I was busy looking for a motorcycle taxi to take me back home since I was very weak, so I could not stay around the town for long. That afternoon, just as I was about to get in the taxi, I received a call from my neighbour. She asked if I had received the money transfer, as she had. I was unaware that the transfer had come through. I quickly checked my phone for the M-Pesa message and was overjoyed to see that the transfer had indeed gone through. I went straight home and informed my spouse about it. We planned to withdraw the money later in the week."

"This dream of building a house is far from reached. We took out loans which we used to buy building material but are yet to start the actual construction will take an amount similar to the amount we used for material. I aim to finish paying my loan by October so I am able to take another loan to start construction This will allow us to have a three roomed house to house my wife and our four children."