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.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
After receiving the money I immediately went ahead and took care care matters concerning nutrition especially for my family because we barely had any food in the house. Therefore I took eight packets of maize flour which cost KES 960. Apart from that, there is a project I began where I have been buying material so as to build a better home for my family and I since the one we live in is pretty old and barely has space for all of us. So I decided to go rent a crusher so that I would break the stones because buying the metal itself was expensive and I did not have those type of funds. I rented the crusher for a fortnight and paid KES 600. Then I also bought nylon that I used to cover the stones since they had cement as well and I wanted to avoid the mixture of gravel and cement from getting wet in case it rained. The nylon cost me KES 600 as well. Lastly I decided to use the rest of the money which was KES 840 so as to start buying timber which would roughly cost me KES 3,000 but I would pay it in installments.
3rd Payment
Transfer Amount
3050 KES ($27 USD)
access_time almost 3 years ago
attach_money
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
Due to consistent drought that we have been experiencing in our area, food has been quite challenging to acquire so the minute the money arrived I decided to buy food to cater for the nutrition of my family. I therefore bought ten packets of maize flour which cost me KES 1,000. Then almost at the same time it seemed like the rains had finally come and being a farmer I went ahead and bought a mouldboard and its sharpener so that it would assist me in ploughing the land much faster and efficiently which cost me KES 800. Although unfortunately it seemed I got too excited because after tilling the land the rain soon after stopped and now I can do nothing else but watch my crops die. I then took a portion of what was left which was KES 500 and paid tuition fee for two my children since they kept being sent home and ended up missing their studies. The balance that remained was KES 700 and decided save and later on buy bricks to renovate my house.
2nd Payment
Transfer Amount
3050 KES ($27 USD)
access_time almost 3 years ago
attach_money
In your opinion, what does GiveDirectly do well, and what does it not do well?
In my opinion, GiveDirectly does well in terms of the criteria they use to select their recipients. The criteria are very good and do not have any instances of biasness at all. This gives us the needy people an upper hand to be able to benefit from the programs that GiveDirectly has for people like us.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
I have a three-bedroomed house. The room that my boys live in is in a bad state. Part of the wall is cracked and any little force applied to the wall will bring it down anytime. The roof on the other part is in a poor state. The Makuti used in making the roof was blown away by the wind during the night and we had to invent something to cover the situation in the meantime. We covered the wide-open area with a big black plastic polythene paper. When I received the transfer I ordered some Makuti worth KSH 1500 that will be used to repair the affected part of the roof. In addition, I spent KSH 1000 buying food for the family. I currently don’t have a job and I find it difficult to provide for my family. With the ongoing drought situation in our area getting water for my home use has been very difficult. Due to the difficulties, we opt to buy water at very high prices from the water vendors. I spent KSH 500 purchasing the water.
Initial Payment
Transfer Amount
1200 KES ($11 USD)
access_time 3 years ago
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Describe the moment when you received your money. How did you feel?
My phone had been charging all day long. At about 3 pm when I got my phone back from the charging shop is when I got the notification about me receiving cash from Give Directly. I was very happy at that moment since I knew this was a miracle that had happened to me
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life since you started receiving payments from GiveDirectly.
The cash has made all the difference in my life. I was able to buy food for my family. I am currently jobless and find It hard to provide efficiently for my family. I am greatly for giving me the cash it helped me big time. I can now smile and have peace of mind in that my family has got something to feed on.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
My job is weaving mats and also making charcoal. Due to the economic conditions that we are currently facing in our country, everything has changed and life has become a little difficult. With the mats, a large percent of my customers are foreign tourists who visit the country. Due to the corona pandemic, the orders were very little and what I am earning now from the mat business is too little to sustain myself and my family. When I received the cash from GiveDirectly I spent the whole KSH 1200 on buying food for my family. That was a priority since I did not have any money to buy them food at that time.
Enrolled
access_time 3 years ago
What does receiving this money mean to you?
Lately I have been feeling the effects of this drought and been thinking about scaling up on my farming. If I can save 30,000KES to afford two oxen, I would use them to plough my farm and plant maize during rainy season and that way, we will have food as a family and maybe sell some to get some money for everyday use. Later, we intend to add more livestock to rear as we think about other businesses that can complement the income we get from the farm.
What is the happiest part of your day?
I have two children who work in Mombasa, whenever they can, they normally send us some money for survival. For the past four months, God has blessed them with some stable income and without asking, they assist to the best of their ability.
I also make an effort of making mats, whenever I sell them, we at least get some extra money to keep going.
What is the biggest hardship you've faced in your life?
The ongoing drought is really taking a toll on my family and I as we are running low on the stored food we had. With my old age, I cannot start on looking employment in order to provide for my family so I have resorted to burning charcoal for sale.
Honestly, there are days we go without food, a situation that has begun to worry me because the weather does not seem to be getting any better. I hope and pray this drought does not finish us as we look helplessly.
