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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3rd Payment
Transfer Amount
50000 KES ($488 USD)
access_time over 4 years ago
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How is your life different than it would have been if you never received the transfer?
Currently, my life is different from how it was in that, I am able to take care of my needs with ease. When I got my third transfer, I managed to boost my business. This was really a good idea because since then, I have never taken loans. I am proud to say that, I paid rent and school fees for my children on time unlike before. I thank GiveDirectly for uplifting my living standard.
Do you have any new or additional goals for your life?
I do not have a new goal at the moment. I still want to boost my business since it has been helping me to offset most of my bills. Today, I am a proud business lady since I do not take loans from people. My income has increased after boosting it using the transfer which I have been fully depending on.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
I spent a large portion of my transfer to boost my business. I have been operating it for five years but the return was low. This was largely being contributed by the low stock that I had since I could not afford to boost it. I am very happy that the business is doing well after adding new stock using the transfer. I have even decided to keep some of my transfer just in case the goods reduce, I will be in a position to add more items. I finally bought food with the remaining amount.
2nd Payment
Transfer Amount
37152 KES ($361 USD)
access_time over 4 years ago
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How is your life different than it would have been if you never received the transfer?
Before the transfers, I did not have any source of income which I could rely on. I used to struggle through casual work to ensure I meet my family needs. In most cases, I would be overwhelmed by needs because I did not have the money to meet all on time. I felt I was struggling a lot and I really needed help. When I received my transfer, I first thought of a better way to invest so that we could have sustainable income long after GD transfers have stopped. That's why I decided to start the business. I am glad the struggles have reduced greatly since I started the business I started with GD transfers.
Do you have any new or additional goals for your life?
Currently, the only focus I have is to make my business more stable by investing more into it. I will still use my transfers to buy more stock so that I can have a variety of items and never run out of stock at any given time.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
I spent my transfer on boosting my business by adding more stock. I would want to make the business more stable so that it can sustain my family needs for as along time. If I don't invest much in the business, I will not be having the business in two years to come. The rest of the transfer I used on paying my house rent and saved the little that remained for future emergencies.
Initial Payment
Transfer Amount
20000 KES ($194 USD)
access_time over 4 years ago
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Do you have any new goals that you didn't have before receiving the transfer?
I do not have any new goal at the moment. I still want to boost my business to a place where it can be stable. This business is close to my heart because I have been doing it for quite some time now. I used most of the profits to take care of our family needs and this is the sole reason why I want it to be steady.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life since you started receiving payments from GiveDirectly.
The biggest difference in my daily life is that I have been able to boost my business. I used to take loans from friends to boost my business and at times, I could not be denied because they could not trust me to return the money anymore. I am also stress-free because I get money that I use to take care of my needs easily unlike before when it was hard to obtain such.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
I spent part of my transfer to boost my business. I normally do beads work. The business was almost collapsing because the cost of basic needs was more than the profits that I was getting. I could not stand seeing the business that I had worked hard for many years coming to its end and that is why I decided to think about reviving it first. I am happy that it is doing well. I also paid fees for my son who had been sent home due to fees arrears. Seeing him going to school makes me happy as a parent. I can only thank GiveDirectly for the financial support that they gave me. Apart from that, I also paid rent because my husband had no job at that time. He normally depends on odd jobs which were limited during that period. The landlord was on our neck. He was almost locking us out of the house. The money came in handy because I was able to take care of this situation on time
Describe the moment when you started receiving transfers. How did you feel?
The moment I received the transfer I was overwhelmed with joy. I read the message in the morning. I normally switch off the phone to save on my batteries. I was so happy, out of joy I started smiling. My husband asked me why I was happy and told him that I had just received the transfer from GiveDirectly. Being that I had so many needs to attend to, I started planing as I prioritized which needs to take care of first.
Enrolled
access_time almost 5 years ago
What do you plan to do with the cash transfer?
My first priority is to expand my current business.I make and sell beaded shoe materials then sell them at kariokor. I will buy more beads and already made bead neck pieces to sell to my clients in Mathare. Also I will be buying beads in bulk then sell to my friends who also have to go to Kariokor Market to purchase the beads. They will save on transport money if the beads are readily available here in Mathare. With an increase in my income from selling the bead products I can improve my life and sustain my familiys' daily needs.
Secondly I will pay school fees for my children. Lately it has been a struggle for me to carter for their education and so paying their school fees will mean they don't get sent home for school fee arrears.
Lastly I would save the remaining money, so that whenever I have an emergency it will be easier to carter for it, rather than always borrowing from friends.
Describe your biggest worry.
My top concern is unemployment because, being unemployed or not having any job security means that I can not afford basic needs for my family. Am casually employed and the income I get from making beads barely carters for food and transport per day. I lack school fees and my children are sent home so often.
Being unemployed leads to my second and third worry because I am not able to pay for my group savings in time, or I am forced to borrow money and this has ledto me being in debt.
What are your greatest ambitions?
My ambition is to prosper in business, be a successful business lady, so that I can fend for my family. Hopefully my bead work business will grow and I can open more shops,where all things will be made of beads, from shoes, handbags to even clothes.The income from these shops will help me grow financially and sustain my family needs.
My other ambition resonates from my first one of being successful in business. I want to provide better education for my children. Seeing where I come from and not having been able to finish school, I want a better future for my children with quality education and for them to get good jobs and help me in return.
Describe your usual day. How do you spend your time?
On my usual day I wake early, take a shower and prepare my my children for school. I am then left alone to do house chores till around 10 O'clock in the morning. After finishing my chores I sit down and start working. I work from home so that is where I spend all my day doing bead work. I normally go to Kariokor market twice a week to sell my work to people who make Maasai shoes. The rest of the days I work till evening, then prepare food and retire to bed till the next day.
On my free time I visit friends and relatives, I also spend time with my children to know how they are fairing on.
