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 6:58 pm and I was outside taking the cows back into their shed when suddenly I heard my phone ringing notifying me of a new message. I had earlier on heard people in the neighborhood saying that they had already received their transfers. I was hence eagerly waiting for it. So when my phone rang, I wondered if finally the transfer had been sent. I thus hurriedly took the phone out of my pocket and I checked the contents of the SMS. I was so happy when I saw that I had also received KES 55000 from GiveDirectly. I immediately finished whatever I was doing and I headed back home. I shared the good news with my family who were so happy to hear about it.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life since you started receiving payments from GiveDirectly.
The transfer has brought a big difference into our lives as a family. We managed to clear the school fees arrears for our children and hence they are now able to go to school well. They used to attend school only two days a week since they were being sent home every time due to the balances. They are thus happy because of this. We also managed to buy a cow of our own and the sheep which are going to be of help to us in the future. We also have maize for our consumption and hence I no longer hustle a lot like before to get food for my family.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
We spent KES 25000 of the recent transfer on buying a cow. We bought the cow because we do not have our own. The one that we have been rearing is not ours, we borrowed it from home. It has always been our wish to buy one but due to financial constraints, we have not been in a position to. I am the breadwinner of the family and I do not have a stable source of income. I usually depend on casual jobs to earn a living and they are not usually available all the time. The money that I get paid I usually use to buy daily food, that is maize and some essential household goods such as sugar. We also spent another KES 10000 on buying two sheep. I decided to buy the sheep so that they can be of help to us in the future. We can sell one of the lambs when we face an emergency such as when we do not have money for paying school fees for the children. We also spent a total of KES 4500 on buying a bag and a half of maize for our consumption and another KES 1500 we used in paying school fees for the children. Other than that, we also spent KES 600 on farming where we planted two points of an acre. With the remaining amount, we used it on buying clothes for our children. We are thus thankful to GiveDirectly for their big help.
Enrolled
access_time over 2 years ago
What does receiving this money mean to you?
I have been having family conflicts with my siblings because the land we inherited from our parents is too small and cannot allow all of us to settle in it comfortably. We usually compete for land space to produce crops and keep some livestock. I have been so frustrated by this and I have always wanted to move to get my piece of land but I have no money. It also seems that I will never have this dream come true because I do not have a job or a sustainable source of income. With my casual jobs, I can earn KES. 200 on average daily which only does enable us to buy our daily food. I am however happy because with your transfers I shall spend KES.90,000 to purchase 0.3 acres of land and then move my family to it. I shall be able to cultivate some crops and keep livestock without much distraction and in a few years to come, I shall be self-reliant.
What is the happiest part of your day?
We usually have merry-go-round contributions in this village and last month our turn to have the money coincided with the festive season. I was so happy I got KES. 3,000 and I did not have to struggle to find money to buy food for my family during Christmas.
What is the biggest hardship you've faced in your life?
The land dispute in this family is one of the challenges am facing. I cannot do anything at the moment to help my family grow their own food. We try a lot to talk and have everyone cultivate their side but the conflict has been escalating. It makes me so sad we cannot solve our issues. I have to buy food which we can even produce here on this land. I need some peace of mind which I believe I shall be able to achieve when you help me.
