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
55000 KES ($457 USD)
access_time 2 years ago
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How is your life different than it would have been if you never received the transfer?
Currently, I do not have any new goals. I planning to complete the construction of the house that I started using the first transfer. I spent all the second transfer on the construction of the new house, it was not complete since we have not cemented the floor of the house. My spouse does casual jobs and we wish to complete this when we get the money and move in.
In your opinion, what does GiveDirectly do well, and what does it not do well?
GiveDirectly does well in that they plan the training and enrollment so well. There was no biasness and everyone who received the transfer spent it well. Most used the transfer on building better houses for their family and purchasing dairy cows among others. I do not find anything that GiveDirectly did not do well in our community.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
I spent all the second transfer on purchasing building materials and paying the workers who were constructing the house. We build a better and more spacious house for the family. The construction is not yet done. We hope to save some amount from our casual jobs to cement the floor of the new house. We lived in a small house that could not host all my family well. We hope to move into a better and more spacious house once it's done. I am so grateful for the support because GiveDirectly has changed our living standard.
Initial Payment
Transfer Amount
55000 KES ($484 USD)
access_time almost 3 years ago
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Describe the moment when you received your money. How did you feel?
The message just came in when I was relaxing at home and about to prepare supper for my family. That was a heart warming message, I knew I was about to start building my permanent home.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life since you started receiving payments from GiveDirectly.
Nowadays, I never shy away from serving my guests food because I managed to buy some presentable plates. My children are able to concentrate in school because they nolonger leave in fear of being chased out of school everyday and thus that had improved their performance.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
My desire has always been to build a permanent home since my muddy house was weak and I was living in fear that it might crumble anytime. When I was enrolled in the program, my first goal was to build a permanent house and it's still a work in progress because I spend KES 20000 to buy roofing timber and KES 10000 to buy iron sheets. Since my children had been send home, I spend KES 5000 to pay their school fees so that they could get back to school, bought some utensils worth KES 5000 and the balance is what I have been using to cater for daily needs. I'm looking forward to using my second transfer to build the three rooms house structure and roof it.
Enrolled
access_time almost 3 years ago
What does receiving this money mean to you?
My family of 10 which comprises of 8 children live in our small hut. My son's are forced to sleep at the neighbours and ty rest we share a bed. Receiving this money will help my family attain better housing. I plan on using most of my first transfer amounting to about KES 45,000 on purchasing 30 iron sheets, poles and labour for my 3 bedroom house. My family will finally be united under one roof.
What is the happiest part of your day?
Sweet potatoes are a delicacy in our region and they are weather friendly. Our land is mostly dry and most of the time we plant sweet potatoes as food for the household and I sometimes sell to get an income. The last 6 months have been evidently fruitful for us and we had a bigger harvest of the sweet potatoes as compared to last year.
What is the biggest hardship you've faced in your life?
Two of the most challenges my family is facing is food security and insufficient income to pay school fees for our 8 children. None of my 8 children are over 18 years and they are all in school. My household s main occupation is subsistence farming and this doesn't bring in income. We mostly take the maize we get from our farm to subsidize as school fees and we are left with 1 or 2 sacks of maize to survive on for a meal.
