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.
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2nd Payment
Transfer Amount
53150 KES ($467 USD)
access_time almost 3 years ago
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How is your life different than it would have been if you never received the transfer?
My new goal is to fence my piece of land and to find a way to get money for paying school fees for my child who is still in his first year of secondary school. I had managed to buy some barbed wire with part of the second transfer. I have not bought the fencing poles and I also do not have the money for paying labor. I want to fence the whole of my land so that I can be able to leave the cows to graze on their own. I usually spend a lot of time looking after them as they graze. Whenever I need to go somewhere like going to my place of work, I have to tie them up so that they do not go to other people's farms and destroy crops.
In your opinion, what does GiveDirectly do well, and what does it not do well?
GiveDirectly did well when they decided to hold a meeting with the community members before starting the enrollment process. The people were taught well and they got to understand what the program was all about. They also did well because they delivered their promise of giving us money. I hence do not see anything that I recommend them to change.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
I spent part of my recent transfer on buying a calf. I bought it at KES 15000. I decided to buy the calf because it was going to help in the future when it calves. I will be able to get milk for our consumption and sale. I can use the money from the sales in paying school fees for my child who is still in secondary school. I also decided to buy one because the one that I have been having is not mine and it has always been my dream to own a cow of my own. I also spent KES 10000 on renting an acre of land and planting maize in it. I decided to do so so that I could get food for the consumption of my family of seven. I will thus not incur a lot of costs buying maize. Other than the above, I also spent KES 7000 on buying barbed wire for fencing my land and another KES 8000 I spent it on clearing the school fees for my child who is in his final year of study in secondary school. I am glad that I was able to clear the balance and hence my child has been able to study well. I am a widow and I have been struggling to provide for my children, most especially with their school fees. I am casually employed as a cook in the nearby school where my children are studying. I work and the money that could have been paid to me is diverted to their school fees. With the remaining transfer money, I used it in buying food. I still have some around KES 5000 that will still help me in buying food for the children. I am hence thankful to GiveDirectly for their help.
Initial Payment
Transfer Amount
55000 KES ($498 USD)
access_time 3 years ago
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Describe the moment when you received your money. How did you feel?
I work in a nearby school as a cook and I still remember vividly that it was a few minutes past 9 am when I had just started working when I received an SMS notification on my phone. I was curious to know its content and this prompted me to read it immediately and to my surprise, it was a Mpesa message indicating that GiveDirectly had sent the promised money. Upon seeing this, my heart was filled with joy and I began singing praises to God as it was my first time to ever own such an amount of money. I continued with my work jovially on that day and everyone I interacted with knew that something good must have happened.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life since you started receiving payments from GiveDirectly.
The biggest difference in my life is that I am happier since I have been able to pay this year's school fees for my son. I am glad that he will no longer be sent back home due to fee arrears thus he will have enough time to concentrate on his studies as he will not be missing any classes. This gives me satisfaction as a parent as I have always seen education as an investment that will be of more benefit to my children since education is key to a bright future.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
I spent KES 17000 to buy a water tank that I will be using to harvest rainwater for domestic use and to construct its stand, used KES 10000 to pay school fees for my son who had been sent back home, and saved KES 10000 in my account for emergency purposes. I am now glad since I will not be walking for a long distance looking for clean water for domestic use. Using the remaining amount, I used KES 8000 to purchase two sacks of maize for consumption, KES 4000 on clothing and invested KES 3500 by buying a goat.
Enrolled
access_time over 3 years ago
What does receiving this money mean to you?
When I receive this money, I will buy an heifer costing $200 which will help me earn income through production and sale of milk in future. I will use $400 to pay school fees for my children for the next two years which will make me have some rest from struggling to find schooll fees and now focus on my developmental activities such as farming. I will then budget $200 to buy a plastic water tank to enable me harvest rain water. The remaining $200 will go to food and clothings.
What is the happiest part of your day?
My happiest part of the day is late in the evening that is around 8 PM EAT, at this time I am happy because I have managed to provide food to my children and completed my day's activities such as farming and household duties.
What is the biggest hardship you've faced in your life?
My husband passed away before my children joined school, this made me struggle so much to provide basic needs, food and even school fees for them. This is the biggest hardship I have gone through.