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.
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2nd Payment
Transfer Amount
53150 KES ($501 USD)
access_time over 4 years ago
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How is your life different than it would have been if you never received the transfer?
Money is quite hard to come by in or locality, and when they do, they would mostly be used to meet the day to day needs such food leaving nothing to keep or save. I would, therefore, still be living in the old hut had I not received the transfer. I am glad I now live in a more decent house-iron roof and I am glad that I would not need to worry anymore for my kids when there's a rainstorm for fear of the house collapsing.
In your opinion, what does GiveDirectly do well, and what does it not do well?
In my opinion, I loved that the staff from GiveDirectly were courteous, friendly and professional. They talked and answered our questions nicely. GiveDirectly did well and I would not change anything.
What did you spend your second transfer on?
I built a new kitchen using part of the second transfer received. This was necessitated from the fact that I used to live in an old grass-thatched hut which was at the brink of collapse hence endangering both my children and myself. I also bought a young heifer with the rest of the transfer.
Initial Payment
Transfer Amount
55000 KES ($529 USD)
access_time 5 years ago
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Describe the biggest difference in your daily life.
The biggest difference in my daily life is that I have built a better and spacious house for my family. I depend on the casual jobs in the village and the amount of money I get through these jobs is so small and can only cater to the basic needs of the family. I did not have a continuous source of income to enable me to build a better house. My children used to sleep in my grandmother's house and this was so risky because they could work at night. Currently, I have built a better and decent house that can host all my family members comfortably. My children no longer spend nights away from home. I no longer fear to welcome visitors into my house because I have good house and a space to host them. I am so much happy about the support because it has changed our standard of living.
Describe the moment when you received your money. How did you feel?
The biggest difference in my daily life is that I have built a better and spacious house for my family. I do not have a stable source of income since I depend on casual jobs in the village to sustain my family. I had the challenge of raising money to meet this dream of building a better house because my income from casual jobs catered mainly for my family's needs thus overrides other development. My children used to sleep in my grandmother's house and this was so risky because of working at night. Currently, I have built a better decent house that can host all my family members comfortably. My children no longer spend nights away from home. I no longer fear to welcome visitors into my house because I have a better spacious house to host them. I am so much happy with the support because it has changed our standard of living.
What did you spend your first transfer on?
I am a casual laborer with a young growing family. It is my responsibility to provide for my family thus I always struggle to make sure that I give my family bread each day. I had built a small house before with an aim of expanding and make it look better but this was never to be since my family daily needs had been too overwhelming to be settled with my little wages and remain with something to build a house. When I received my transfer, I took a larger portion to build a decent spacious house. I am grateful that we currently live comfortably under a decent iron-roofed house. I spent another portion to buy a heifer to rear in my homestead. I settle on this since I see it as an added asset that with time will be earning from. The remaining amount I spent on my family basic needs mainly food.
Enrolled
access_time over 5 years ago
What does receiving this money mean to you?
I live in a small, grass thatched house together with my family. The house is so conjested that some of my children have to go and sleep in my nearby neighbour's house. The education of my kids has also been hampered by this situation since they don't have a place to do their homework. But thanks to GD cash transfer, I'll be able to construct a semi permanent house that will be spacious enough and hence able to accomodate all of us. This will as a result offer my kids ample space to undertake their curriculum activities, sleep well and some sort of privacy to us as parents.
What is the happiest part of your day?
I normally wake up very early in the morning and do my usual household chores and thereafter head to the forest to collect firewood for sale. I later return from the forest in the evening and start distributing the firewoods to the nearby households and business. Sometimes I do a joint distribution of the firewood with my kids as I interact with them. The jokes that we share with my kids creates the happiest part of my day.
What is the biggest hardship you've faced in your life?
Inadequacy in offering basic needs amongst my family members has been the biggest hardship in my life. We live in an old, small grass thatched house that is less spacious and sitting in small piece of land that we were given by our parents. Moreover, I also struggle to provide food and clothing to my kids since both of us as parents, we don't have a regular source of income since we solely depend on casual jobs(which is not a guarantee to get) to survive.
