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.
How is your life different than it would have been if you never received the transfer?
We currently live in a two-room house, with our two boys and two girls sharing a single room. As the boys grow older, they will need separate rooms for privacy and independence. To address this, I am planning to build a three-room house. This new arrangement will allow us to vacate our current house for our sons while we move into the new one, providing everyone with the privacy they need. Although I haven't started construction yet, I am grateful to GiveDirectly for their support, which will enable me to achieve this goal. I have already begun buying building materials and aim to continue acquiring them through my monthly transfers. This is my major goal for the coming year and beyond. I am thankful for the financial support, which previously allowed me to buy a goat something I couldn't have managed without this assistance.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
I really appreciate GiveDirectly for the financial support that has enabled me to acquire materials to build my three roomed house. I joined a loaning and saving group where we save and take loans. I took a loan of $800 and used it to purchase four lorries of sand and building blocks. I felt confident taking such a substantial loan, knowing that GiveDirectly would continue their support until the promised time.
To make the most of these transfers before they end, I am focusing on quickly purchasing the necessary building materials. When I received my most recent transfer, I allocated $90 to repay the loan as agreed in the group. With the remaining $12, I bought sugar, soap, and some groceries for my family.
26th Payment
Transfer Amount
3470 KES
access_time 7 months ago
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How is your life different than it would have been if you never received the transfer?
We currently live in a two room house with our three boys and one girl sharing a single room. I anticipate that as the boys grow older, they will require separate rooms for privacy and independence. To address this, I am planning to build a three room house for my family. This new arrangement will allow us to vacate our current house for our sons while we move into the new one, providing everyone with the privacy they need.
Although I haven't started the construction process yet, I am grateful to Give Directly for their support, which will enable me to achieve this goal. I have already begun saving $ 22 monthly for the project and plan to use my accumulated funds to purchase essential materials like sand and cement. I am optimistic that with the continued assistance from Give Directly, I will be able to realize my dream of providing a more comfortable and private living space for my family.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
Currently, my family and I reside in a two-room house, with our three boys and one girl sharing a single room. As the boys grow older, I foresee the need for separate rooms to accommodate their privacy and independence. To address this, I am planning to construct a three-room house for my family, which will provide us with a more spacious and comfortable living arrangement.
Upon receiving my most recent transfer, I allocated $22 towards my monthly savings dedicated to building the new house. Additionally, I used the remaining $9.5 to pay off my phone loan and $2.5 to purchase essential food items like sugar. The phone loan helps me stay connected with my family and friends, and the purchase of sugar was necessary as we were running low on supplies. I am truly grateful for the financial support from Give Directly, which is instrumental in helping me realize my goal of improving our living conditions and ensuring a better future for my family.
21st Payment
Transfer Amount
3470 KES ($23 USD)
access_time 12 months ago
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How is your life different than it would have been if you never received the transfer?
We live in a two room house and we have three boys and a girl. Currently, they all sleep in one of the rooms and I know that once the boys hit 15 years, they will need their own separate room which will not be under the same roof as ours as parents. Because of this, I am planning to build a three-room house for my family. Having achieved this, we will leave our current house for our sons while we move into the new house. With this, everyone will be guaranteed of privacy that we all need all the time. Even though I have not started the construction process yet, I am grateful to GiveDirectly since their transfer will enable me to achieve something that I cannot achieve on my own.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
Upon receiving my most recent transfer, I spent $20 to pay for my phone that I had purchased on higher purchase terms. I settled on buying a phone on higher purchase since the one I had was faulty and I did not want to be offline. I am glad that with the transfer, I was able to reduce my debt. In addition to this, I used $10 to source for labor in tilling my farm and used $8 on the purchase of soap and sugar. Aside from this, I used $34 to purchase a goat for rearing as this is an investment that will later help me in educating my children who are still young. As per what we were informed during enrollment, GiveDirectly's transfer is not permanent hence investing it has been my priority so that I can later have something to remember them for in life. As a way of diversifying my investment, I saved $30 in our savings groups so that I can use it anytime in case of an emergency. With the transfer from GiveDirectly, we were able to higher a tractor to help in land preparation purposes and bought enough farm in puts. Due to this, we were able to plant maize in five acres of land hence we've had enough food as a family. I am glad that this act has enabled me to invest my transfer that would have otherwise gone to food.
18th Payment
Transfer Amount
3470 KES ($24 USD)
access_time over 1 year ago
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How is your life different than it would have been if you never received the transfer?
In the upcoming year and beyond, my primary goal is to construct a home for the comfort and well-being of my children. At present, my eldest child is seven years old, and I recognize that cohabitating with them in my existing residence may compromise my personal privacy. To address this, I intend to build a separate dwelling for my growing family. I am immensely appreciative of the financial support I have received, which has enabled me to improve my overall health through nourishing meals and has allowed me to transition away from physically demanding manual labor jobs that I used to engage in.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
Three months ago, back in May, I managed to secure a $70 loan, which played a crucial role in clearing and preparing two acres of my land for planting. At the time, the rainy season had arrived, and I found myself lacking the necessary funds to plow and get everything ready for planting. I am delighted to report that I have recently harvested eight bags of maize from one acre of the farm while eagerly awaiting the other acre's maize crop to ripen for harvesting. This bountiful harvest will provide sufficient sustenance for my family of six over the next year. As for the loan I acquired in May, I used $20 from my August transfers to start repaying it, and I'm pleased to say that I have already settled a portion of the debt. Presently, I still have a remaining balance of $20 to repay in full. Additionally, I diligently saved $10 of my August transfers within our family's savings group, which we formed among ourselves. My intention is to invest in livestock when it's my turn to receive the transfers. This livestock investment serves as a future-oriented financial decision, extending beyond the expiration date of receiving this financial aid. It acts as a safety net, ready to be cashed in case of an emergency, enabling me to address any unexpected expenses effectively. With the remaining $4 from my August transfers, I purchased food to ensure that my family's nutritional needs are met.
13th Payment
Transfer Amount
3470 KES ($26 USD)
access_time over 1 year ago
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How is your life different than it would have been if you never received the transfer?
I have a family of 6 with two of my children currently going to school. Getting enough money to cater for all their needs had been quite a challenge despite the monthly transfers that I have been receiving due to so many needs. In the future, I no longer want to struggle and I would want to ensure that my children have a good education. Therefore, my goal is to invest the transfers in something that would be of help to my family in the future. I plan to start a livestock rearing project for poultry and goats and I would ensure that I buy at least a goat worth $30 or 3 chicken costing $9 every month I receive my transfers.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
The transfers that I have been receiving from GiveDirectly had been of great help. I have a young family of 4 children, 2 of them are in school, and getting money to pay for their school fees had always been a great challenge. With the program in place, I have been trying to juggle between feeding my family and educating my children something that had not been so easy considering the tough economic situation. With the much struggles, I would not want to experience the same in the future and I had been planning to spend the transfers on something that would help my family in the long run even after the program comes to a halt and therefore with the recent transfers, I bought a goat worth $30 and spent the remaining amount of $4 on buying food for my family. No words could describe how grateful I have been for the support so far.
10th Payment
Transfer Amount
3470 KES ($28 USD)
access_time almost 2 years ago
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How is your life different than it would have been if you never received the transfer?
Being jobless, I intend to start a small business vending dry fish and tomatoes around the village. This will be a reliable source of income for myself and my family. Currently, I am not working after giving birth to my second-born last month. In addition, I planning to boost the livestock rearing that I started with the transfer by purchasing more goats. This will be my future investment for the children's education. As of now, my firstborn is in grade 2 and is expected to join the junior secondary school in grade 6.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
As a young mother of four who recently delivered an infant, my body is still recovering to allow me to handle strenuous tasks for money. Hence, my husband is the sole breadwinner of the family in the meantime. However, his job of buying and selling livestock at the marketplace earns him just enough for food and nothing more. Items like clothes are rarely afforded in my household. I remember when I received the cash transfer, I had just delivered my fourth baby and lacked the money to buy him attire. The cash largely helped to acquire him onesies and baby blankets. Alongside these, I bought my older three children new clothes to wear during Christmas. Were it not for the transfer, I would have burned charcoal to buy my baby's clothing regardless of the physical strain I would put myself into. Seeing them happy is all that mattered and nothing would have stood in the way of that. Am mostly grateful that, through Give Directly, they not only are happy about the clothes, but they also have decent clothing that can be worn when stepping out. Above all, am glad I reserved my energy for when I will properly recover.
6th Payment
Transfer Amount
3050 KES ($25 USD)
access_time over 2 years ago
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What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
I saved much of my transfer to KES 2000 in a “Chama”. The primary reason is to accumulate a substantial amount of money at the end of the year and buy ten goats. Buying the goats is investing in the future. Once they multiply in number, I can sell some and use the money to pay school fees for my children. Both my husband and I are casual laborers who earn a living through the sale of charcoal. My earnings are very little and only enough to buy food and I have nothing left to save for the future. Investing in the goats is a well-thought plan that will make our life easier in the future. Besides saving some money, I bought food with the remaining KES 1000 to add to the depleting stock of food in the house.
2nd Payment
Transfer Amount
3050 KES ($26 USD)
access_time over 2 years ago
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In your opinion, what does GiveDirectly do well, and what does it not do well?
I am grateful to the organization because it has helped us improve our lives. The impact of letting people decide on the spending can be evidenced by the improved nutrition which was our main challenge. I do not have any complaints about it but to thank them for the support.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
The KES 200 we earn daily from the charcoal sale can not take care of all our family's needs. My children's health is deteriorating because they do not get proper nutrition. We mostly rely on two and in most cases, one meal a day (mainly porridge).so that we can save some little money for their school fees. I, therefore, saved KES 2000 in a rotational saving and loaning group so that when I earn my shares I will use them to pay for my children's school fees. I will therefore use my income to provide better meals for my family. KES 1000 I spent on some of the foodstuffs for my family.
Initial Payment
Transfer Amount
3050 KES ($26 USD)
access_time over 2 years ago
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Describe the moment when you received your money. How did you feel?
Being unable to provide 3 common meals for my 3 children has in the recent past taken my peace. As a result, I always have moments of self reflection on what I need to do in order to support them as I ought to. So when I received my transfer, I felt extremely good and relieved from the internal pressure. At that moment I had no money and my children had not taken any meal yet. Receiving transfer at that hour was timely because from it I was able to buy for them.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life since you started receiving payments from GiveDirectly.
By the time the transfers were sent, as a family we had depleted all food that I had stored. Since both my husband and I had not succeeded to get some cash for buying food, we were really worried on what we would do to obtain additional food for the family. Fortunately, with the transfer, I was able to buy food which will last my family a week. Consequently, I am relieved from stressful moment thus I am able to strive to look for other avenues of raising money in order to continue supporting my family.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
I have been living under tough condition, always spending on worn out mattress. This subjects me to long for a new mattress. The current one subjects me to back pain every morning I wake up. Because my transfer was insufficient for a brand new mattress, I opted to save KES 2,000 with an aim to top up and buy a mattress soon. In addition, I spent KES 1,000 on buying food stuffs since my children had not been getting the needed nutrition. Although I have been desiring to ensure they have 3 meals a day, this had proven impossible following prolonged drought that destroyed my crops during the last season.
Enrolled
access_time almost 3 years ago
What does receiving this money mean to you?
The health of my family is something that I am concerned about. Currently, we spend our nights on roped beds and rugged sacks, which do not give us nice sleep. In the morning, we feel so much pain and this has directly affected our health conditions. To ensure this is solved, I intend to replace the old beddings with new ones and this means spending my first 6 months' transfers, 18000 KES to do this. Also, together with my husband, we will pool our remaining transfers, to reinforce our house with stones and cement because it's walls are made of mud.
What is the happiest part of your day?
In June 2021, my husband gave me 1000 KES to buy 5 chicks to start poultry farming. At the moment, 3 are laying eggs and this gives me hope for a successful project. This is basically what has brought joy to my life.
What is the biggest hardship you've faced in your life?
Meeting our very basic needs like food, clothing and nice beddings are what I struggle with most. Imagine forfeiting some meals and surviving on one meal a day. This has resulted in the deteriorating health of my children something that never gives me peace. Hence, I consider the financial constraint as the main challenge that I am currently facing.