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 our neighbor's house in the evening as we had gone to condole with them when I received a Mpesa message indicating that I was KES 55000 richer. I became so happy despite grieving because of the loss of one of our neighbors. I excused myself after a few minutes, called my spouse, and informed her about the good news. She became so happy and advised me to withdraw it the same day since we had already planned how we would spend it.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life since you started receiving payments from GiveDirectly.
Buying milk has been so expensive that we would at times take tea without milk despite having four children who are young and still needs milk for their growth. I thank GiveDirectly so much for their support that has transformed our lives and given us a reason to smile. This is because I am now a proud owner of a dairy cow. Due to this, we no longer buy milk like before, and aside from this, I earn some money through the sale of milk after setting apart some for our consumption.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
I used KES 32000 from our recent transfer to buy a dairy cow and spent KES 14100 on two trees that we are planning to use in making timber that we will use in building a more spacious house once we receive our second transfer. Using the remaining amount, I paid school fees for my children and bought some foodstuffs. The main challenge that we've been facing is a lack of milk and an unstable source of income since I depend on subsistence farming. With the dairy cow, I will not only get enough milk for our consumption but also for sale to earn income.
Enrolled
access_time over 2 years ago
What does receiving this money mean to you?
Our house is one room, we use it as a living room and a kitchen. We are forced to sleep together with my children since we have no otherwise. This is embarrassing and denies the privacy of parents. I am jobless and my spouse is a cashier in a supermarket making her the family's sole breadwinner. She earns KES 20,000 monthly which is not sustainable for us as a family. These financial constraints make us unable to build a better house for my family. Things have never been the same from the time my wife gave birth to twins. One of our twins developed complications that call for maximum medical care which is expensive for us. This money gives me hopes of building a spacious and better house for my family. I will set aside KES 65,000 to achieve this dream. To guarantee my family of stable income in the future, I will buy them a dairy cow worth KES 30,000 to enable them to produce milk for the family and then sell the surplus.
What is the happiest part of your day?
I am happy to have good health and the good support we have as a family despite the challenge we have. This gives me peace of mind to work and put food on the table for my family of six.
What is the biggest hardship you've faced in your life?
I am currently battling perennial food shortages in our family. All my family income goes to the medical care and upkeep of my daughter who is not feeling well. This leaves us with the struggle of putting food on the table. This is unfortunate for me and leaves me stressed up.
