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 ($530 USD)
access_time over 5 years ago
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How is your life different than it would have been if you never received the transfer?
Give Directly has lifted my living standards. Nowadays I have piped water in my compound. This has relived my family the tedious work of walking for long distance looking for water. It has also reduced the risk of contracting water-borne disease since our personal hygiene rate has gone up because of availability of water. I am also able to irrigate my vegetables using the water. This has increased the produce generating more income to my family since I am able to sell the surplus.
In your opinion, what does GiveDirectly do well, and what does it not do well?
In my opinion, Give Directly has an excellent job than any other organisation that have worked in my location. The money was unconditional and this has given hope to the hopeless. People used it in relation to their pressing needs. I have not seen anything that GD has not done well.
What did you spend your second transfer on?
I spent some of the transfer to buy water pipes and paying for labor for connecting water from the main water system to supply water to my house. I also bought a water tank for water storage. We have had a water shortage problem in my community since we have not been receiving rains for the past five months. This has forced us to walk for long distance looking for the precious commodity. Sometimes we would even have very little water just enough for cooking and drinking. This has been posing a great risk to our health since we were unable practice proper personal hygiene due to lack of water but thanks to GD.
Initial Payment
Transfer Amount
55000 KES ($550 USD)
access_time almost 6 years ago
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Describe the biggest difference in your daily life.
The biggest difference in my daily life is that currently, I earn more profit from my business which has really seen my income grow. Now I am able to comfortably provide basic needs for my family than before since the profit I used to get was very low and could not sustain my family's needs.
Describe the moment when you received your money. How did you feel?
It was around 7:00 am when I received a call from my friend alerting me that he has received money. I immediately checked my phone and found an Mpesa message indicating the receipt of the money from GiveDirectly. I felt so happy that I immediately closed my shop and went home to share the good news with my wife.
What did you spend your first transfer on?
We live in a very dry place, semi arid area where we have a very big problem of water shortage. We are forced to walk for long distance looking for water for use. For this reason, I used part of the transfers to buy a water tank which will be used to store rainwater during rainy seasons. I also spent the rest of the transfer in restocking my shop which was at the verge of collapsing.
Enrolled
access_time 6 years ago
What does receiving this money mean to you?
The major problem I have is lack of water for home consumption. Currently we get clean water from the county government at a cost of Ksh 3 per 20 litres and yet we go for about 2 kilometres to reach there which is time consuming and tiresome. 300 metres from my house, there is county council water line and I am planning to buy pipes which will cost me around Ksh 40,000 to complete the whole process of pipping to reach my homestead. Therefore, receiving this money mean I will be able to get clean water at my house without going for a long distance.
What is the happiest part of your day?
My normal day start by spending 2 hours of my morning milking and feeding my 4 cows. Since I own a small shop in my village, I open it around 10 am because it is the time I start receiving customers. I operate the shop until around 8.30pm. After closing my shop is the time I rest while taking supper with my family as we chat on how the day was. This therefore, makes my evening the happiest part of day.
What is the biggest hardship you've faced in your life?
The biggest hardship I have faced in life is that when it rain, water oozes from the floor of my house since I built it in a swampy area. I am therefore planning to cement it using part of the transfer I get GiveDirectly.
