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.
In your opinion, what does GiveDirectly do well, and what does it not do well?
This project is a great deed, especially for the people in my community. The money has helped in improving our lives and most of us can now take the child to school. Give directly has done extremely well, there is no area for improvement in their work.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
I am diabetic. Just recently, my condition got worse so the doctor advised that I should work. For that reason, I now depend on my son and daughter who work as a watchman and ECD teacher respectively. When I was enrolled to be a beneficiary to the to give directly program, my plan was to buy some goats to rear. Unfortunately, the first time I received the funds my child was unwell, so I spent the whole KES1,200 medical bills. Using my second transfer, I bought one female goat at KES3000.
Initial Payment
Transfer Amount
1200 KES ($11 USD)
access_time almost 3 years ago
attach_money
Describe the moment when you received your money. How did you feel?
It was a normal morning. I was in the kitchen preparing breakfast for my family. My phone rang and when I checked I saw an Mpesa message from Give Directly. I was so excited to start receiving money from Give Directly! You know I had missed the first round due to sim card registration issues and I had thought that I had been disqualified. I felt so happy that I wanted to call your hotline to give my gratitude, but you send me a message saying that you have closed for Christmas.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life since you started receiving payments from GiveDirectly.
My whole life has changed. Since I lost my job, I got so stressed because I had no source of income. Right now I'm assured of monthly transfers. It is like getting salary without going to work. I don't worry anymore about what my family will eat. I used to depend on my children for food but not any more. Give Directly has lessened the burden and I'm so grateful. I'm also hopeful that I will complete the construction of my house, that was stuck for a very long time. May God bless Give Directly.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
I used this transfer to buy food and church offering. I withdrew kshs 1170. I bought the following items; 4 packets of 2kg maize flour worth kshs 480, 1kg of sugar at kshs 140, 1litre of cooking oil at kshs 120, I bar of soap at kshs 170 and tea leaves worth kshs 60. I took the remaining kshs 200 to church as offering. I used to work for a local NGO as a committee member before, but I lost my job. I now depend on subsistence farming and doing casual labour such as digging for people to earn a living. I'm so grateful because this money has relieved me and I can relax a little bit without having to worry about food.
Enrolled
access_time 3 years ago
What does receiving this money mean to you?
I have a plan to finish up this building project and fully utilize my house. I need to buy metallic doors, cement floors and also fix windows with my own money as my husband is currently broke. We had money for this project but one of our children went mental and we to treated him, thereafter I also fell sick and was diagnosed with diabetes and had to be hospitalised for 3 months and is still on medication. All these took up all our money initially allocated for the project.
What is the happiest part of your day?
The happiest moment was when doctors finally decided against amputating my right leg and instead resorted to just perform grafting. I'm happy right now it's nicely healing and I can walk to church and some other places even though I'm not able to go back to farming.
What is the biggest hardship you've faced in your life?
I'm not and will never be able to continue producing cassava, bananas, pineapples, and pawpaw. I was a small-scale farmer and I could earn about 2000 KES daily from the sales of the produce. But since I was diagnosed with diabetes doctors recommended that I shouldn't continue farming.
