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Initial Payment
Transfer Amount
354200 MWK ($346 USD)
access_time almost 2 years ago
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What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
I used my most recent transfer to procure 4 bags of fertiliser..1 bag of fertilizer was bought at an approximate amount of $57..I will use this fertiliser in my garden where I cultivate crops like maize and groundnuts.
Then, I bought 8 bags of maize just to top up on the few remaining bags that I already had in my house..1 bag of maize was at a price of $15..This food will be enough for me and my whole family.
Lastly, I spent about $10 as school fees for my 3 kids who are still in primary school..I also bought school uniform as well as shoes.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life since you started receiving payments from GiveDirectly.
The biggest difference in my daily life since I started receiving these payments is that in the past I was unable to purchase enough fertiliser such that I could not produce higher yields..But now I have been able to procure 4 bags of maize which is giving me hope that I will harvest enough food.
Also, I am now able to eat at least three times a day as compared to the past where I only ate once a day and my children can now all go to school.
Describe the moment when you received your money. How did you feel?
The moment when I received the money I was so happy and I danced around the house..I was busy chatting with my friends outside the house and we all rejoiced together.
Enrolled
access_time 2 years ago
What is the biggest hardship you've faced in your life?
At present all my challenges are money related. I have 3 school going children in standards 5, 3 and 2, and I'm required to pay school funds at some point (once a term). For the one in standard 5 I pay 1000 while the ones in 3 and 2 I pay 800 and 400 kwacha, respectively. I struggle to come up with these sums of money. The burden is even heavier when these children are sick and need hospitalization where I have to pay for the costs incurred therein. Additionally, like I mentioned earlier on, I depend on farming and these days my harvests are usually low from the garden and I only make something around 2000 kwacha from the sales of my produce, thus, fresh maize and tomato and vegetables, I barely survive off this. I am in a polygamous marriage yes but my husband doesn't actually support me and my family, he's mostly concerned about the other wife in Gwengwe village, even rightnow he is there. He only comes once a month to visit then he goes back. These are my biggest hurdles that I have to deal with daily.
What is the happiest part of your day?
Good health for my children and myself has been the source of my gratitude and joy this year. I say this because I was one to frequent the hospital with either my ailments or my kids' where I would spend a month or more in the hospital. For instance, my children would get burnt mysteriously in the previous years but I have seen a change in the trend for the past 6 months with good health and this has been ecstatic in my books.
What do you plan to do with the cash transfer?
I would take 40000 kwacha and start a business of ordering fish from Mangochi and selling it here. I believe the money would multiply and help me reduce my poverty levels in my household. I would also take part of the funds and purchase 4 bags pf fertilizer and increase my farmland area as currently I am only farming a one acre land. So with those funds I would increase the acres and this would definitely mean I would also have more maize yield in the end, thus being food secure. I would also rent a 1.5 acre land where I would plant soya and sell it at a profit. Soya doesn't require fertilizer here so it would only need my care and labour which I can provide with ease and then benefit in the end.
