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.
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2nd Payment
Transfer Amount
53150 KES ($431 USD)
access_time almost 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 for this year is to set up my own tailoring business since that is my passion. This combined with what my husband makes from his motorcycle job will be able to cater to the family’s basic needs with much ease.
In your opinion, what does GiveDirectly do well, and what does it not do well?
It was a great blessing having GiveDirectly visit and support our village right from the first to the last transfer. In my opinion, this initiative gave a new face to every household and more so the whole village. We were given a chance to listen to and decide whether to receive and spend the transfer independently without any push. The fact that the support was only limited to the two transfers made every household spend wisely following the teachings we had received during the enrollment stages. I can't see anything to complain about but to just encourage GiveDirectly to keep supporting other villages as well.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
The construction of our two-bedroom house that we had started after receiving the first transfer had stalled due to some financial crisis. Receiving this second transfer was a boost on the construction work as we spent $300 on obtaining paints, several bags of cement, and settling the labor charges to have it completed. I do tailoring at home and my husband is a motorcycle rider. Every week he pays $27 to settle a loan he took to acquire the motorcycle. We are thus left with not so much to cater to the basic needs of the family. I was able to replace the old, ripped mattress and bed with new ones costing $120 and we no longer wake up with bodily aches. I also cleared school fees arrears for my three children which had accumulated to $40. With the remaining $70, I replenished foodstuff in the house that would last us for a month.
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?
I felt so happy the moment I received money from GiveDirectly. It was very early in the morning and informed my husband who was equally very happy about it. We planned on how we were going to spend the money and we spent it right.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life since you started receiving payments from GiveDirectly.
The biggest difference is the improvement of our house and the motorcycle that we were able to repair and use it to earn extra income. These two investments were life changing to me and I will always feel indebted to GiveDirectly.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
We spent KES 40000on building a new house and used another KES 10000 to repair a motorcycle that had developed mechanical problems. The mechanical problems had rendered the motorcycle useless and made my husband jobless too. My husband is now back on the road to earn income that supports our family.The remaining amount was used to buy food for family and we cannot stop being grateful to GiveDirectly.
Enrolled
access_time over 2 years ago
What does receiving this money mean to you?
When I was getting married back in 2014, I thought I had made it in life. This is because I used to hear that the husband is the provider of everything in the house. This was the opposite for me. My husband works as a taxi driver, and the wages of 300 KES were not enough to sustain a family of 6 members. This forced me to hustle too doing tailoring job to support him. My ambition has been to start a boutique business that will generate income for us. Receiving this money means fulfilling my long-time desire. I am planning to spend 60,000 KES on the business. Other than that, I will spend the remaining amount to renovate my house which leaks during rainy seasons.
What is the happiest part of your day?
Last year in August, I manage to celebrate the birthday of my son who is now 10 years. This had not happened before because of financial challenges. I used to desire it and it happened. He was very happy and this melted my heart.
What is the biggest hardship you've faced in your life?
Finance instability is the biggest hardship I am currently facing. My husband works as a taxi driver for our neighbor. He earns 300 KES which is not guaranteed because sometimes, he is not given the tax. This has made us struggle to fulfill our needs such as food and shelter.
