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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.
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Enrollment
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Transfers
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Completed
Newsfeed > Maryline's Profile
Maryline's family
Maryline
landscapeCountry:
kenya
workOccupation:
Raising livestock
faceAge:
25
workCampaign
Kenya Large Transfer
There will be no further updates from this completed recipient.
2nd Payment
Transfer Amount
53150 KES ($473 USD)
access_time over 2 years 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 a new goal that I didn't had before receiving the transfer. I had always wished to purchase a dairy cow and move my children to a better schools. I am so grateful for the support because GiveDirectly has enabled me to fulfilled this.
In your opinion, what does GiveDirectly do well, and what does it not do well?
In my opinion GiveDirectly does well buy giving money to the poor in the community to build better house and to buy dairy. O do not find anything that GiveDirectly did not do well.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
I spent the money I received from GiveDirectly to move my children to better school. I has always wished to do this it I didn't had the money. I bought them school uniform and paid the school fees. They are in a good school now and I will try my best to ensure that I get the school fees on time for next academic year. I purchased a heifer at a cost of KES 25,000. I am so happy because I will get enough milk when it reproduce in the next few months. The rest of the money I bought food and clothes. I am so happy because GiveDirectly has changed our living standards.
 
Initial Payment
Transfer Amount
55000 KES ($500 USD)
access_time over 2 years ago
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Describe the moment when you received your money. How did you feel?
During enrollment stage, I was promised that I would receive my first transfer before date 20th of August and since it was already on 19th, I was reading all incoming messages whevener I received an SMS notification. When it was some few minutes to 10 am, I received the message I had eagerly been waiting for. Upon confirming, I became so happy and immediately informed my spouse about it. Even though we were mourning the death of my mother in-law, receiving this money gave us hope that all was well and we would be able to give our mother a decent send off.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life since you started receiving payments from GiveDirectly.
The biggest difference in my daily life is that I have been able to purchase a piece of land thus an increase to the one we had. I will plant livestock feeds on this land so that my livestock will have enough feeds during the dry season hence ensuring constant supply of milk. We decided on this as a family since during this season, one is usually forced to buy some animal feeds which are costly and since we sometimes cannot afford them, our livestock usually end up producing less milk hence leading to a decrease in income from milk sales.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
My mother in-law had just passed away when we received the transfer and had left behind a huge hospital bill. As a family, we were planning to sell part of her land and use the money to cover for this and burial expenses. The transfer came in handy as we were able to spend KES 35000 to purchase this piece of land instead of selling it to an outsider. In addition to this, we spent KES 5000 to purchase some clothes that we would wear during the burial and contributed KES 2000 towards the funeral kitty. Using the remaining KES 12000, I bought a wire mesh to use in fencing our compound. I settled on this so that my chicken will no longer be destroying crops in the farm.
 
Enrolled
access_time over 2 years ago
 
What does receiving this money mean to you?
I am a livestock farmer and I mainly depend on keeping poultry and dairy cows. At the moment poultry keeping has been a good source of income since I can make close to USD. 15 a month but diseases and predators have been the major challenges. With this money I would like to build a spacious and safer unit for them complete with a feeding system and egg laying area. I will also purchase an incubation unit so that I shall be selling small chicks. All these will increase my income to probably USD. 85 monthly.
What is the happiest part of your day?
When I wake up every morning, the first thing I do is usually to check my livestock if they're all well and I usually get so excited at this time of the day because this is the time I get to feed them and also collect their products.
What is the biggest hardship you've faced in your life?
I struggled to start my business in livestock keeping but I had no proper experience and at one time all my poultry died due to a contagious disease. I lost a lifetime investment and I felt so discouraged. I however thank God because I was able to start again.