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 ($485 USD)
access_time over 3 years ago
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How is your life different than it would have been if you never received the transfer?
My life is different than how it would have been if I never received the transfers in that I have build two better and spacious houses. I depend on small scale farming and the harvest that we get is only for consumption. Whenever I have extra harvest I sell to earn an income to pay the school fees for my children in various schools. I didn't had any savings to buy the building material. When I received the second transfer I found it wise to invest on building a better house for my family. Currently we live in a spacious house. Whenever I have visitors I do not shy to welcome them because I have a spacious rooms. My children are so happy because they have their own rooms where they can do assignment without any disturbance. We are so grateful for the support because GiveDirectly has changed our living standard.
In your opinion, what does GiveDirectly do well, and what does it not do well?
In my opinion GiveDirectly does well by giving money to the poor in the community to build better houses and to buy dairy cows. I do not find anything that GiveDirectly did not do well.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
I spent part of the transfer I received from GiveDirectly on building two houses. We used to live in old houses and we decided with my spouse to build better and decent houses.I bought three goats. This is the best investment because goats reproduce twice per year and it really helps whenever there is an emergency. I also paid school fees for my children in various schools and the rest of the money I bought food and clothes for my children. I am so happy because GiveDirectly has changed our living standard.
Initial Payment
Transfer Amount
55000 KES ($509 USD)
access_time over 3 years ago
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Describe the moment when you received your money. How did you feel?
At the moment of receiving our transfer, we were very happy as we had been anticipating this big day since we were enlisted. The two officers who came to our household during the enrollment period had equipped us with all the information that we needed right from the security details to the good time of collecting the money from the agents. We also had a rough idea of the transfer timelines which minimized the excitement as we were expecting within those dates.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life since you started receiving payments from GiveDirectly.
Having invested all our first transfer in livestock, it has been a great pleasure for us to get things done on our farms at the earliest time possible. This is one experience that had been a struggle for us but now happy that we are among the first few members in our village to have completed all farm operations and planting of both maize and beans. Oxen in our area are an essential requirement since, after completion of our farms, we are currently out in the village offering farm-operations-services at a price. This is one source of income paying us more than what we would have been getting if we had purchased milk-producing livestock making it the biggest difference in our daily life.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
Upon receiving the first transfer, I spend all of them on livestock investment. I obtained two oxen, one costing 25000KES, and the other one was 18000kES. Wishbone remaining amount we decided to purchase 4 goats each of them going for 3000 KES. This decision came up to be a priority since we needed an investment that we can easily manage with the available resources. We have enough grazing fields and we also needed to improve on farming. Oxen are very useful and cheaper compared to the machinery which we had been hiring previously. We are glad that we are no longer lining up on the wait for the few households with oxen.
Enrolled
access_time over 3 years ago
What does receiving this money mean to you?
I am always passionate about farming. I have more than five acres of land awaiting tilling but for the past seasons, I have been able to till only two acres. The reason for this is because, I do not posses the necessary tools and equipment to carry out the exercise. Among the things required are bulls and ploughing folk. Receiving this money means that I will be able to buy three bulls at a total cost of 50,000 shillings and a ploughing folk at a cost of 5,000 shillings. Additionally, my family members will provide labour and in this way I will be able to cultivate more than the usual acreage with little production cost and a surety of bumper harvest.
What is the happiest part of your day?
I spend most of my daytime on my farm. I have planted bananas, maize and vegetables there and so there's frequent carrying out of farm activities like weeding, transplanting and harvesting. My happiest part of the day is in the evening when I am back from my farm, prepared dinner and then spend some quality time with my kids as they tell me more about their new curriculum.
What is the biggest hardship you've faced in your life?
Increasing my acreage under cultivation has been the biggest challenge for me. The hilly terrain on our place makes it difficult to till using a tractor and so the only options we have is by hand or bulls. I do not have the necessary funds to buy the bulls and so this has resulted in tilling where I can afford the production cost. The rest of the arable land has been left unutilized unlike if I had the tools to cultivate it.
