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 was at home relaxing after walking a long distance to and from our nearby marketplace which is 5km from my home. I had gone to sell my charcoal to get income to purchase foodstuff for the family. At around 8 am, I received a Mpesa message on my phone, I called my child to interpret the message for me since am illiterate. I was overwhelmed with joy when he disclosed that it was the transfer from GiveDirectly. I prepared myself to go and withdraw the transfer since we had already planned on how to spend our aid.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life since you started receiving payments from GiveDirectly.
Able to get sufficient food for the family is the biggest difference in my life. Nowadays, I no longer have to struggle to get food for my family, and also we are not going to bed like we use to before.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
Providing quality education for my kids was my priority after receiving my transfer. Currently, I have 4 children who are still schooling. I set aside KES 25,000 which will help me pay part of the school fees of my two children who are completing their form four exam this month. They have huge balances which might make them not get their result once they are out. I also used KES 10,000 to purchase iron sheets, I intend to use them to construct a house for my boys who are seeking shelter from our neighbors. In addition, I spent KES 10,000 to purchase enough food for the family of 12 members. This is because I was struggling to feed them as I lack a reliable source of income.
Enrolled
access_time over 2 years ago
What does receiving this money mean to you?
It's a blessing to me and my family, upon receiving this first transfer of 55,000ksh I plan to use 20,000 KSH to repair my house which is in bad condition, all the walls have been eaten by termites and soon we expect short rains in April this year, this makes it at greater risk to fall down.
I also want to buy bed, mattresses and blankets for the whole family which will cost me around 25,000ksh. This is important as for once my family can sleep cormfotably like other people. at the moment we are using mats and boxes and it's very uncomfortable.
I want to use the remaining 10,000sh to pay school fees for my daughters in palakumi secondary.
What is the happiest part of your day?
During the last season of drought, and a lot of cows were dying, when I got a call that cow just gave birth to a healthy young one.
It was unusual time and I thought my cow wouldn't survive, but here we are today they are all doing great.
What is the biggest hardship you've faced in your life?
Currently there is drought all over, my husband and I are working tirelessly as charcoal burners, but we don't get enough money to support our families; So we go for days without meals.
My house is also in a bad state, no doors or windows, and on one side it's almost falling down, so my children are forced to sleep In neighbors houses and to me it's so devastating.
