"My current house is pretty old and run-down, especially the iron sheets I used to make the roof, which are so worn-out that we constantly get leaks whenever it rains, making our stay quite uncomfortable. My plan for the upcoming year is to construct a brand-new, larger three-room home that will give us the comfort we require. I've started the process of acquiring the required supplies, starting with the purchase of brand-new iron sheets, and I aim to have completed this process and built the house before the year's end."

"Having a family of 9 yet the source of income is not reliable can be a very stressful life. As a housewife, I depend most on my husband who is a security guard. His monthly income is usually $80, an amount that goes into settling our bills. This leaves us with nothing to save and it has exposed us to be vulnerable. Imagine sharing a room with all my 7 children yet others have grown up! It has been a life of shame. Culturally, I have gone against our norms and this has left me to be a laughing stock in the village. All this has happened in my life because of financial instability and I consider it to be my biggest challenge."

"Food insecurity! This is the biggest problem that I have gone through over the last 7 months in my marriage. Since I am a housewife, I depend on my husband who is a casual laborer in the construction sites. Sometimes, he works on other people's farms to earn money for food. In addition, my husband has seasonal epilepsy, which has posed a challenge in his work and this means, our household's income is not consistent. What a life! This situation has eaten up my mind and I am always stressed."

"Life has been a challenge indeed. I am left alone to fend for my children since my husband passed on some time ago. It is a life of uncertainty and we only depend on God. Food insecurity is a major issue that is disturbing us a great deal, this has been occasioned by the depressed rainy season and as a result, the food crops that we had planted dried up because of adverse heat. We have been forced to buy at high prices that we sometimes cannot afford. It seems to get even worse as the cost of a 90 Kg bag of maize that used to retail at $36 goes for $70 at the moment, almost double the initial price. It breaks my heart a lot when I am not able to provide food for my children yet they look up to me."

"At the moment my main challenge is a lack of food. It has been three years since we grew enough food on our farms which has led to a lack of enough grains in our stores. The high cost of food has also made it worse since I cannot afford to buy food from the market. Currently, I only depend on my children to bring me food which they do occasionally. Whenever I don't have food I'm forced to go hungry which stresses and saddens me so much."

"There are two aspects that make my life very difficult currently. The first one is the poor state of my house. I live in a grass thatched house which was built in 1993. It has been destroyed by termites and has holes on its walls. It's roof also let's in rain. This house is a problem since it's cold at night and sometimes wild animals get into my house. The second aspect is the lack of rains. In the past three years we've been hit by the longest droughts which has seen our farms become unproductive. Because of this I lack food and water which has forced me to sleep hungry many times. At the time I depend on my children to purchase food from the nearest market which is expensive and not enough."

"Because of my old age I'm faced with several challenges ranging from my health and inability to work. Because of this I find it difficult to fend for myself and do work such as looking after my goats. This is a task that has been left to my neighbours who ensure that my livestock come home every evening. In addition to this, I'm living in a grass thatched house which is in a bad state. During the heavy rains we received in the month of April I had a difficult time since I got rained on. This makes my life very difficult since I have to worry about attacks from wild animals such as snakes."

"I have been spending a bulk of my transfers purchasing chicken. I now have 12 chicken since I lost two to chicken fever. I want to do poultry business as it is a lucrative business. I have been buying chicken and will continue to buy them to actualise this dream. I would like to get to a point I am earning an income fro my chicken. I also aim to clear building my mothers house. Her house was washed down during the beginning of the rain. I want her to have a more stable house and I hope to complete this sooner so she can move out of that old disheveled house."

"I repaired the bed for my children so that they could sleep well as their bed had already been spoiled. Their mattress is old and worn out and I know they need a new one. I have an informal savings group to which I have been having and I hope to use the money at the end of the year to get them a new mattress. I also would like to buy a solar powered lamp. Solar powered lamps are easy to use especially because they rely on the sun."

"I have three children with my oldest being six now, my house is a one roomed house and we all live in it. The house is not enough for me and my children and I would want to create an additional room so that the house is sufficient. I will need about 6 sheets of iron to accomplish this. I have so far gotten two sheets of iron and I am looking forward to adding the four as time goes by. I also have a business where I sell food items such as flour, sugar and other non food items such as phone vouchers. I would like this business to grow beyond where we are and I have plans of using the transfers in the coming months to restock the shop to a point where I increase my profits. This in turn will bring an increase in my income and I can afford to comfortably take care of my children."