We check in with people at each stage of the cash transfer process to see how things are going. Take a look at some of their stories as they appear here in real-time.
Learn more about how recipients opt in to share their stories.
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2nd Payment
Transfer Amount
53150 KES ($442 USD)
access_time 2 years ago
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How is your life different than it would have been if you never received the transfer?
My new goal is to be able to start a business as soon as I have enough capital I have in mind livestock selling business and this will help me meet the needs of my family such as payment of school fees for my children. I currently engage in the same business but on a very small scale. I look forward to the day I will be able to have enough cash to be able to start this business.
In your opinion, what does GiveDirectly do well, and what does it not do well?
In my opinion GiveDirectly did very well by giving us the money unconditionally. This gave us the freedom to choose how to spend the money and which we did pretty well. I honestly did not find anything amiss that I thought GiveDirectly could do better.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
I used KES 35000 to buy a dairy cow and used the remaining amount to buy clothes for my family. Dairy keeping is one of the main economic activities that we engage in here at our village and since I did not own one, i thought of buying one with the transfers. With this dairy cow I will not only be able to have profits with it reproducing but also reduce the cost of living for me and my family.
Initial Payment
Transfer Amount
55000 KES ($475 USD)
access_time over 2 years ago
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Describe the moment when you received your money. How did you feel?
It was 7 am and I was still at home taking breakfast when suddenly I heard my phone ringing hence notifying me of a new message. I stopped to check it and wow! I could not believe my eyes when I read the SMS which was saying that we had received KES 55000 that GiveDirectly had promised us. I was so happy on seeing this that I called unto my wife who was in the kitchen. She came wondering what was going on. I broke the good news to her as I showed her the SMS. She was so happy too and we celebrated that we even forgot that we were having breakfast. I then prepared myself to go withdraw the transfer so that we could come and spend it on the things that we had planned for.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life since you started receiving payments from GiveDirectly.
The transfer has brought a very big difference into our lives as a family. The business of buying and selling goats has improved having invested more money in it. I have gotten more profit from it than before. I am hence now able to meet the needs of my family comfortably. Thank you so much GiveDirectly for helping us.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
We decided to take KES 20000 of our recent transfer and we invested it in our business of buying and selling goats. We decided to do so to expand the business so that we could get more profit from it. This business usually helps me in getting income for buying food for my family and other household essentials like sugar, soap, etc. Other than that, we are also farmers and we usually grow crops such as maize and we supply them to schools where our children are studying. By doing so, we get to pay for part of their school fees. We also spent another KES 20000 on paying school fees for our two children who are in secondary school. We managed to clear the whole term's school fees and hence the children had ample time to study without worrying about being sent home due to arrears. With the remaining transfer money, we spent it on buying clothes for the children.
Enrolled
access_time almost 3 years ago
What does receiving this money mean to you?
Receiving this money will mean a better life for my family. I am a father of six children, who are all currently in school, two of them are in secondary level. To earn a living I am always engaged in a business of buying and selling livestock during market days. However this is not my own business as I usually work as a middle man. The much I can get is KES 2500 in a week, after paying the owner of the business. This amount is not enough to sustain my family of six children. I am happy that this transfers from Givedirectly will enhance my business from the capital I will start with. I intend to use KES85000 as a capital start up for the business. The remaining will aid in buying food for the family.
What is the happiest part of your day?
For the past three months, I was able to harvest sweet potatoes that we had planted. From this I got a profit of KES25000, which made us to ofset a loan that we had taken from a solar energy company. Before then we were struggling to pay a daily amount of KES100 as well as meeting other basic needs in the house. This was too straineous to us in the family, but luckily this amount that we got was able to relief us.
What is the biggest hardship you've faced in your life?
The main challenge that we currently face as a family is financial constraints. The entire family depends from what I earn in the business. Raising six children with KES.2500 that I get has been challenging. Providing them with basic needs they need is a tall order to me. I needed to be independent in running the business and this transfers will greatly bring an impact to me.
