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
55000 KES ($457 USD)
access_time over 1 year ago
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How is your life different than it would have been if you never received the transfer?
I do not have any new goals. My main focus now is paying school fees for my three children in secondary school. This is my priority now since I want to see them completing their secondary studies and joining college. I will save some money from my small business activities in town for school fees.
In your opinion, what does GiveDirectly do well, and what does it not do well?
GiveDirectly does a perfect job in that they conduct their training so well and enroll all the less fortunate families in the community. Most of the people were able to build a better house and pay school fees for their children. I do not find anything that GiveDirectly did not do well.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
I spent KES 45,000 on paying the school fees for my three children in secondary school. This is the big challenge that I am facing now. Raising the school fees is not easy since we do not have a stable source of income. I depend on small-scale farming and small businesses. Sometimes they are sent home to collect their school fees and this is affecting their performance. Currently, they are studying well without missing any lessons like before. The remaining amount of money I spent on food, clothes and other basic household items. I am so grateful for the support because were it not GiveDirectly all this could have not happened.
Initial Payment
Transfer Amount
55000 KES ($484 USD)
access_time over 2 years ago
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Describe the moment when you received your money. How did you feel?
I was at home with my family when I received a message late at night from GiveDirectly that confirmed the receipt of the first transfer. I was grateful at the moment and had to keep checking it up to confirm whether it was true. I woke my wife up and we could not fall asleep later after a long celebration that extended to the sunrise. I had to visit the nearest shopping center on the third day where I collected all the money.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life since you started receiving payments from GiveDirectly.
The biggest difference in my daily life is the clearance of the school fees arrears for my two children. They had been missing classes a lot but since I paid all the fees, they have had a better part of the term within the school and I am hopeful that their performances will soon be better.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
After a long celebration with my family over the recei[t of the first transfer, we had to sit down and align on the projects that we were set to spend the money on. Topping our list was the clearance of the school fees arrears for my two secondary school children. Each of them needed KES 10000 and had to spend a total of KES 20000 for both of them. They were glad to know that they will not be sent home again for the whole term as had been the case in the past months. I also added foodstuff worth KES 6000 to our food baskets, bought new pairs of clothes for all my seven children worth KES 12000, and injected the remaining amount into my small business of buying and selling sheep. I am glad that everything that we had planned worked well for us and we are looking forward to seeing a lot of transformation when we receive the second transfer.
Enrolled
access_time over 2 years ago
What does receiving this money mean to you?
I am a businessman with seven children. My business entails buying and selling goats in different markets. The business has been unstable and inconsistent due to inadequate capital to run it .With this transfers, I will be able to stabilize my business by investing KES 50000 in it.This will increase my revenues and hence enhancing financial stability and food security .
What is the happiest part of your day?
In the last 6 months I got a good harvest from my farm and this brought me happiness. I harvested 3 bags of beans which were worth KES 30000. This enabled me to settle a school fees debt of KES 20000 for my two children and with the remaining amount I bought food.
What is the biggest hardship you've faced in your life?
Currently, I face challenges of financial instability. Being a businessman I depend on the profits from the sale of goats. These profits are usually unpredictable because it depends on the market prices and the competition in the market. Payment of school fees and expansion of this business has become a challenge as a result of lower revenues.Two of my children in secondary school have had high incidences of absenteeism because of failure to pay their school fees. This has led to them performing dismally .
