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?
It was early in the morning after waking up I checked my cell phone and saw a short message that GiveDirectly had sent us the promised money. I became so happy and I was grateful to God for Give Directly for I knew that the money will help me do so much for my family.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life since you started receiving payments from GiveDirectly.
The biggest difference in my daily life is that I am now a happier and more fulfilled person unlike before when I use to be worried about where I would get the money for building a house. This is because I have been able to build a house for my family. Due to this, I can now concentrate on other development projects since I have already achieved one of my major goals. I had tried for so long to save the money to use in building a house but I had not managed to build it because I usually end up spending the money on other emerging issues.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
I spent my first transfer to buy some building materials to use in building a spacious house for my family. I am glad because I currently live in a better house. Also, I bought barbed wire and poles to use in fencing my farm. Due to this, I no longer have to worry about livestock destroying my crops in the farm. I spent the remaining amount to buy some clothes and food for my family.
Enrolled
access_time over 4 years ago
What does receiving this money mean to you?
I intend to use part of my first transfer of $200 to build a spacious house for my family. The one I currently occupy is very small and with the family size of seven members, it is unable to house all of us. Additionally, my kids who are currently at school need a private room for them to study in the evening after they are back from school. I will use the remaining amount of my first transfer of $350 to clear the school fees arrears for my kids. For the second transfer, I intend to use it to revive my cereals business of selling beans, sorghum, millet and maize in the nearby market that will create a sustained flow of income to fend for my family.
What is the happiest part of your day?
After I am done with my usual household chores of preparing break fast for my kids going to school, cleaning utensils and preparing lunch for those who will come later, I head to my nearby farm to carryout some farm activities like weeding, transplanting etc. The happiest part of my day now comes in the evening when I successfully water all the area of my farm that have transplanted seedlings.
What is the biggest hardship you've faced in your life?
I used to own a cereals business in the nearby market centre some years back to an extend of going around during market days and selling the cereal products to people. Due to my dependency on the proceeds from the business to sustain my ever growing needs especially school fees to my kids, food for my family and other expenses, the stock started to reduce. This is because my expenses exceeded my returns from the business and after some few months, I closed down the business and stayed at home while doing some casual jobs on people's farm so as to cater for my family. Life has been difficult since then and I hope and pray that one day I will restart my cereal business once more.
