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 biggest difference in your daily life.
My life is currently different because, through this transfer, I managed to purchase some building materials to enable me to build a new house to live with my family. The old house that I was sheltering was not spacious, and my desire was to build a decent and spacious house. When I received this transfer, I purchased enough building materials which include iron sheets, building poles and nails. I am currently in the process of constructing this house which will be ready soon. To me, building this house is the biggest difference in my daily life.
Describe the moment when you received your money. How did you feel?
I received the transfer early that morning. I remember receiving a notification message which made me curious since it came early in the morning. I realized that it was from GiveDirectly. They had sent me my first transfer as they had promised earlier. I was happy to receive the transfer because for sure no one would give me such an amount of money, not even my very close wealthy relatives would have gifted me with this amount of money.
What did you spend your first transfer on?
I spent KES 17000 the transfer on buying five goats which I am currently rearing in my homestead. I am sure that they will increase in number with time hence making me wealthier. I am planning to sell some of them and buy a cow. In addition to that, I also purchased iron sheets at KES 15000 and a few building poles with an intention to construct a new house since the one that I was sheltering was in a bad condition. I also spent KES 10000 to buy a new bed and a mattress to replace the old beddings that I have been using for years now. I later bought foodstuffs with the remaining amount of money.
Enrolled
access_time 5 years ago
What does receiving this money mean to you?
Since I was a little boy, I have been faced with hard life situations and I know what it means to lack and to have. My desire has been to have a family, but it has not been possible because I don't have any resource under my name. Every time I approach a girl, I'm faced with rejections -because in our culture, bride price is very crucial, and you cannot marry someone's daughter without it. Therefore, receiving this money will enable me to put up a more conducive house, and ultimately be able to achieve my dream of having a wife. Accordingly, I will use part of my transfers to purchase livestock, which I will, in turn, use to pay pride price once they multiply. A family is a source of inspiration to any man, and that is what this transfers means to me.
What is the happiest part of your day?
Evening is the happiest part of my day, after work, I normally spend time with my peers for a chit chat. And because I have no family to come back to, I always feel at peace when am with them out there. In the morning, I spend most part of my day earning a daily wage through casual jobs.
What is the biggest hardship you've faced in your life?
Lack of parental support has been the biggest hardship in life. As my name suggests 'Jela', a Kiswahili word meaning prison, I was born at the time my father was in detention. And when he was finally released, he died after a year. Consequently, life thereafter became unbearable. The biggest blow now came when our mother who was then the only support system died after a short illness. What followed was family disintegration and everyone began fending for themselves. All of us who was in school dropped out and resorted to manual jobs to sustain their personal needs. At the moment, I live alone, and so are my siblings.
