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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.
Stages:
 
Enrollment
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Transfers
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Completed
Newsfeed > Jumwa's Profile
Jumwa's family
Jumwa
landscapeCountry:
kenya
workOccupation:
Small business
faceAge:
34
workCampaign
Standard Kenya
There will be no further updates from this completed recipient.
2nd Payment
Transfer Amount
53150 KES ($510 USD)
access_time 4 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 from how it was in that, I have managed to boost my business and today I am able to restock my fish business with up to 2000 KES which was impossible the transfer. I have also cleared a large portion of my daughter's that had always been a burden.
In your opinion, what does GiveDirectly do well, and what does it not do well?
In my opinion what I love about GiveDirectly is that, within the short period of time that they came in our village, people's lives changed. The unconditional cash transfer really helped people to reach their goals in a short period of time. There is nothing that GiveDirectly did not do well.
What did you spend your second transfer on?
I spent part of my second transfer on clearing a large portion of my daughter's school fees. She is now settled in school like the rest of the children which has given me peace of mind. Paying her school fees took a toll on me just because most of the time my income from selling fish was never enough to keep her in school. I am glad that she has never been sent home due to fee arears. I was also able to pay for labor. My 8-acre farm was dug on time and actually I am almost harvesting. This time I will get a lot of produce than ever before.
 
Initial Payment
Transfer Amount
55000 KES ($528 USD)
access_time over 4 years ago
attach_money
 
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life.
Clearing my children's school fees is the biggest difference in my daily life. Seeing them waking up and rush to catch their lessons without missing any makes me so happy as a parent. My spouse is aged and jobless, this leaves me as the sole breadwinner of the family, but with my small business, paying school fees was important but I could not consistently do not it and only considered buying food as the most needed. This kept my children out of school. I paid school fees to enable my children to be literate and not illiterate like me. I feel so happy now seeing them rush for this gold called Education without hiccups.
Describe the moment when you received your money. How did you feel?
A tone that notified me of a message rang on my phone at 3 a.m. This was a bit awkward and unusual and I had to wake up and check the content out of curiosity. I confirmed that GiveDirectly had sent me money as they promised. I was so happy and could not go back to sleep.
What did you spend your first transfer on?
I spent part of my first transfer on paying school fees for my children who are in secondary school. Since the beginning of the year, I had never remitted any amount in their school accounts because of my low and unstable financial capability. This interfered with their studies as they could attend classes irregularly and miss lessons most of the time, and with their fees paid, at least they were able to get back to their books in time. I then bought a bicycle so that my son would help us with fetching water as the dams are far away from our village and getting water on our heads was tiring and took time. We could not also fetch much given that one person can only carry one jerrican at a time. With the bicycle, we can carry at least three jerricans of water in one trip. That has changed too. The remaining amount went to starting a new business alongside my fish mongering business I was running before. I vend vegetables which enable me to meet my family needs with more ease as more profits are coming in.
 
Enrolled
access_time almost 5 years ago
 
What does receiving this money mean to you?
Receiving this money means expanding my small business of selling fried fish. I will make a wooden box for storing them and sell them along Mariakani-Bamba road where there is a wider market. I will also increase my stock because demand will be much higher. With the rest of the cash, I will purchase oxen and an ox plough to upscale my farming. Due to current water shortage, I will also buy a bicycle to assist in ferrying water since we now fetch it from very far places.
What is the happiest part of your day?
I fry my fish in the morning and spend the whole afternoon hawking it to neighbors and friends. By evening, am usually very tired and look forward to the night so that I can lay in bed and rest making it the happiest part of my day.
What is the biggest hardship you've faced in your life?
Financial constraints is our major headache in the family. Our income combined can not sufficiently meet our basic needs. Food and water have become too expensive since we experienced low rainfall last season unlike before when they were readily available. Huge fee balances in school have become a common characteristic for our children. We have also been unable to complete construction of our house where we were replacing the mud walls with bricks.