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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Initial Payment
Transfer Amount
329680 RWF ($302 USD)
access_time 1 year ago
attach_money
Describe the moment when you received your money. How did you feel?
I was working in the fields planting some beans when I received my first transfer. I was so thrilled to receive the money and immediately felt like all my problems were going away very soon. I had many accumulated debts that I had to pay. I first paid off the owner of the fields I had rented in the past, and also had in mind renovating my house and building proper latrines.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life since you started receiving payments from GiveDirectly.
If only I could send you pictures of the improvement so far. I have no words for the good things I was able to do just by receiving LS1. My child and I are eat healthier now, I now have no shame of receiving guests because I have proper latrines and I am able to start thinking of business ideas for when I receive LS2.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
When I received my first transfer, I paid off the debts that were worth 150 $, built latrines and paid 80 $, gave 10 $ to my child who is in school, bought clothes worth and food for 25 $. I lived in a community where I was oftenly discredited because I had a big debt towards people but I now paid off the whole debt.
Enrolled
access_time over 1 year ago
What do you plan to do with the cash transfer?
Although my dad gave me land to build my house, it is not yet good as I want it to be. I will paint inside and add cement using $70. I will build fence and make a new bathroom on $50 because I will use mud bricks and they are expensive these days. I cannot forget the house materials I need as buckets, sauce pans, plates ,cups and forks on $60. My child needs to be clean, I will buy for her clothes for $30. The last but not least, I will buy the big pig of $80, lamb of $30 and a goat of $40. I am also thinking of starting a small business though it is still an idea but I would like to make traditional drinks from sorghum. I would start with $70 and I believe that I can get a profit of $30 which is helpful to get to the development. Paying health insurance is also paramount, I pay $6 per year. I hope to use the remaining amount to rent some lands and do farming of cassava and beans. The least amount you pay to rent a land is $40 per year.
What is the happiest part of your day?
There was a time when I was struggling . It was very hard to get food due to how the season of farming was affected by the rain(soil erosion). The people who give us jobs were not willing to pay us money but they could give us food which is not equivalent to that less than $1. Life was hard but then I saw a child who came to me and gave me $3 from my dad that I should buy soap and other thing I need. I was surprised and thanked him so much. In addition to that, I never thought that my daughter could be intelligent and become the second in the class considering the poverty we live in. After taking report from the school, I saw it and I could not believe that it was her work well done like she did. I was extremely happy.
What is the biggest hardship you've faced in your life?
The main thing which is a challenge for me is that I am a single mom and poor. I dropped out of school when I was 18years old and it is funny that I was still studying in primary three at that age. I lost my mom when I was 7 years old. From that time, my life changed completely, I could catch anything in classes which made drop out because of bad life. After dropping out, I started living as a street girl because I went to work as a house maid in Kigali for 1 year but I couldn't resist on how I was being treated. I came back to my village and met a boy. We were in love as other people but when I told him that I was pregnant, he did not deny it but he was also poor. He could not play any role as a father. I decided to be the father and mother of my child and started looking for casual job where I get paid of less than $1 per day. My father is still alive. He gave me a land to build my house to live in with my daughter which was very helpful that time till now. Nowadays, it is not easy to get everything my child needs especially school fees, food on her table and clothes because I don't have any land for farming, I always do farming jobs for other people .
