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.
Describe the moment when you received your money. How did you feel?
I felt so happy the moment I received money from GiveDirectly. It was late in the evening and my wife was cooking supper. I was with her keeping her company at the kitchen when I heard my phone ring when suddenly I heard my phone ring and I confirmed that I had been sent a sum of KES 55000 from GiveDirectly. I felt so much happy and straight away I shared the good news with my wife and son who were all very elated to hear this. The following day we all went to the nearest Mpesa agent where we withdrew the money and spent it in the ways we had planned.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life since you started receiving payments from GiveDirectly.
The biggest difference in my life since I started receiving payments from GiveDirectly is the dairy cow that I bought with the money. This investment have brought a lot of changes in my lufe. The most immediate one was that I no longer have to use a lot of money buying milk to be used at home. These days I do not have to go looking fir odd casual jobs to raise money for buying such essential commodities and I have even had more time with my family. Once the cow have it's subsequent calves, I am sure to have enough milk that we can even sale and make our lives more comfortable. I now have the greatest peace in my mind than ever before.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
I used KES 45000 to buy a dairy cow and used the remaining amount to construct a poultry house. For a long time I did not have a dairy cow and had been forced to spend a lot of money to buy milk. This was the situation because I had sold all the cows that I had to help raise school fees for my son who was in his secondary school then. I am a bit relieved now that he has finished his secondary school level of education and he is yet to join university and pursue a bachelor's degree. With this dairy cow that I bought at least we now have enough milk supply for local consumption and I will no longer have to engage in hard odd casual jobs to make money for sustaining family's needs. I also have intentions of engaging in poultry keeping that will provide me with a sustainable source of protein and livelihood and make my life much more affordable going into the future. I feel so much lucky to have be n part of the people benefitting from this program.
Enrolled
access_time over 2 years ago
What does receiving this money mean to you?
Receiving this money means that I will acquire a dairy cow unlike now when I keep a borrowed one. Selling the milk will give me a constant income that I will spend on food for the household. I hope to buy a cow at about KES 70,000 . I hope it will give me an average of KES 200 per day. From this, I will save about KES 100 a day and this will help in paying school fees for my child.When I get this regular income from selling milk, I will have achieved a milestone in my life. I will even reduce the amount of menial jobs that I do, therefore making me more comfortable.
What is the happiest part of your day?
In the last six months, I have not found any thing outstanding to make me happy. I am unhappy because I have not been able to provide enough food for my household. Additionally,I am worried about my son's education who has just completed secondary education expecting to join a college. I may fail to send him to further his studies because I lack a proper income that can meet the expenses required. Hopefully, GiveDirectly transfer will save me from these sorrows.
What is the biggest hardship you've faced in your life?
The biggest challenge that I currently face is food insecurity. This is because I do not have a land suitable for crop production. My land is on an area that is water logged most of the rainy seasons. As a result, anything that I grow usually fails, forcing me to buy every food item that we need. This means that I have to rely on menial jobs where I earn only about KES 100 a day. It is insufficient making it very difficult for me to provide for my household.
