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 biggest difference in your daily life.
My livestock died last year during the drought leaving me with none and since they were part of my source of income it has been so challenging meeting the family needs. This is not the case anymore because I bought livestock with the money I received from GiveDirectly. I'm happy and I have hopes that soon after they have given birth I'll be able to get enough milk both for sale and for family consumption. This is the biggest difference in my daily life.
Describe the moment when you received your money. How did you feel?
It was one early morning while I was holding my phone when I received a message notifying me that I had received money from GiveDirectly. It was such a joyous moment since that was the first time in my life when I was receiving such an amount of money.
What did you spend your first transfer on?
Previously I had a single room which was too small to fit the family but still, we squeezed in the small room. The moment when I received the money I bought building material which I have already used to construct a bigger house which fits my family. A portion of the money I spent on livestock for rearing so that in future after they have given birth I'll be able to get enough supply of milk for both family consumption and for sale in order to get an additional income.
Enrolled
access_time 6 years ago
What does receiving this money mean to you?
Ever since my husband died, I have been struggling to make ends meet while ensuring that my three children get the best education that I never had. The transfers come at a time when I have a daughter who is in college at Mariakani hence I will be able to pay Ksh 12000 for her tuition and Ksh 9600 to cater for the other items needed in school. I will buy 10 goats, 2 cows and a ploughing machine which will act as assets which I can sell whenever I have an emergency that requires cash.
What is the happiest part of your day?
My daily routine of selling fruits like oranges and mangoes start at around 11 am and ends at 4 pm. During this time am able to make some sales of about Ksh. 300 which I spend on buying flour and kales for my family. At times I manage to save Ksh. 50 on a good day and sometimes my expenses exceed thereby making me to have debts at our local shop. I feel happy when I save part of the cash because it helps me in taking care of certain emergencies that may occur including hospital bills if one of us is sick.
What is the biggest hardship you've faced in your life?
We have experienced low rainfall last season and this made my farm not to produced enough food for my family. This has really drained me financially because I have been forced to buy maize flour and other food items that I would easily get from my farm. To make it worse being a widow and at the same time having a child in college is expensive for me as I have to look for alternative sources of income which includes hawking fruits like mangoes at the local market but it is still not enough.
