"My house is in very poor condition, leaning on one side and on the verge of collapsing. At this point, it is impossible to renovate, so I am now focused on building a new two-roomed house made of blocks, which will be much more durable than the one I currently live in. I have been using my previous transfers to gradually buy building materials, and for the coming year and beyond, I plan to continue using a portion of my transfers to purchase more materials until I can finally build the house I have always dreamed of. Once it is complete, I know I will be extremely happy. I understand it is not an easy journey, but I am determined to achieve it, and I am deeply grateful to GiveDirectly for giving me hope and support through these transfers."

"My health and well-being will remain my top priority, so in the coming year and beyond, I plan to continue using a portion of my transfers to purchase the necessary medication, refills, and special nutrition I need to maintain and improve my health. Additionally, I intend to keep investing another portion of the transfers in more goats and chickens, with the hope that they will multiply and grow in value. In the future, I can sell some of them to start a business. Due to my health condition, I am unable to do heavy work, so my goal is to open a shop where I can sell household consumables without needing much physical strength. I am hopeful that these dreams will come true, and I am deeply grateful for the support I receive from GiveDirectly."

"In the coming year and beyond, my goal is to become a successful livestock farmer. I plan to continue saving a portion of my transfers in a merry-go-round group, which will allow me to purchase goats when I receive my pooled funds. My hope is that these goats will multiply, increasing both in number and value over time. By doing this, I aim to have a dependable source of income that I can rely on in the future. This will provide me with financial security, especially once this support program ends, allowing me to continue supporting myself and my family."

"Initially, I had plans of renovating my house, but things have become quite difficult and so I had to shift my priorities. The drought and hunger affecting our region has made life challenging for many of us. I used to collect building poles from the forest and sell them to people in my community who were constructing homes. But with the current hunger crisis, people are more focused on providing food for their families, leaving me with fewer customers for the building poles. This has reduced my income, and now I solely rely on the transfers from GiveDirectly. For the coming year and beyond, I plan to use a portion of these transfers to continue paying school fees for my children and buy food for my family. Additionally, where possible, I intend to invest in chickens, hoping they will multiply and grow in value. My hope is that when my children need school fees, I can sell some of the chickens to cover their costs and ensure they continue with their education. I’m truly grateful for the support from GiveDirectly, especially during these difficult times."

"Our lives have been challenging over the past four months. Providing for my family has become an uphill battle. My husband had a dispute with a neighbor over land boundaries, which escalated and led to his remand in April. Unfortunately, he was our sole breadwinner. With our two-week-old baby to care for, I am unable to seek work to support our family of five. Our agony never started there, earlier this year, a strong wind destroyed our main house, forcing us to live in our kitchen, which has become both our living space and cooking area. We use firewood to cook and warm ourselves, In most cases the house is full of smoke and I am worried that our child might develop breathing complications."

"We are currently facing a prolonged period of drought in our region. This has affected our lives negatively owing to the fact that we are unable to plant any crop in our farms. Our main source of water is the lake which is also far and we cannot do any meaningful agricultural activity through irrigation."

"Lack of a sustainable income has made our lives hard. I am only a housewife and my husband is a night guard in a nearby construction company. He earns KES 10,000 a month. This income in unsustainable considering his polygamous nature. I have 8 school going children and my co-wife has 3 all depend on our husband's income. This has turned me into a charcoal burner which is illegal with meager income."

"My plan for this year is to buy land that I will specifically use for farming. Currently, I am leasing land, but I want to have my own space to grow crops. Owning my own land will allow me to farm consistently, which will help solve our food needs and meet our immediate household expenses. With the surplus from my farming, I will be able to pay school fees for my children. The thought of achieving this goal makes me very happy because it means my life will be better, and my family will no longer have to worry about food."

"This year and beyond, my goal is to acquire some land in the Parkera irrigation scheme. Previously, I used to lease land, but now I want to buy my own. Owning this land will change my farming for the better because there is a reliable water supply, ensuring a good harvest. With this improvement, I will be able to sell the produce to meet my immediate household needs and pay for my children’s education. This way, I can ensure they have a brighter future."

"Upon receiving $450 from GiveDirectly, I allocated $200 to purchase a piece of land. Before this, I didn’t own any land and lived on someone else’s property, which meant I couldn’t make any major improvements because it was temporary. Now, I am proud to say I have my land, and I plan to use the subsequent transfers from GiveDirectly to finish paying off the remaining amount. I also used $84 to buy a modern bed and mattress to replace the old ones, which has greatly improved my comfort and sleep. With five children, food is a major priority, so I spent $35 to buy enough food for my family. Before, it was difficult to get food, and we relied on me to find temporary casual labor to provide for us. Lastly, I used $54 to plant maize on one acre of land. This will provide food for my family, as I plan for it to be primarily subsistence farming to address our food security needs. Previously, I could only farm half an acre, but thanks to the support from GiveDirectly, I am now farming a full acre."