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 moment when you received your money. How did you feel?
Since I was promised that I would receive transfers from Give Directly, I would regularly check my phone after enrolment. One morning I received message notification and I was so curious to know its contents because it was so unusual to receive a message at such an hour. I felt so happy when I confirmed that I had received my first transfers from Give Directly.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life since you started receiving payments from GiveDirectly.
The house that was initially my shelter was not in good condition. I am happy that now I have built a good house which is more specious. I am now so happy because after the house will have been completed, my family will have a better and spacious house to live in happily.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
I spent part of my first transfer on buying some building materials for house construction. I also bought a solar panel which is helping my children at night in their studies and also for charging my phone. I then bought some beddings such as a bed and a mattress for my children. The remaining amount of money, I spend on buying enough foodstuffs for my family.
Enrolled
access_time 4 years ago
What does receiving this money mean to you?
We have been aspiring to add one more cow in order to sustain our family. We have one cow which we feel it is not sufficient to sustain the entire family. We are planning to use 300 USD of our first transfer to purchase one cow and use the remaining to clear fees arrears and meet other school and domestic expenses. Therefore receiving this money mean we will raise a healthy family and cater our family well in term of school fees and other domestic expenses.
What is the happiest part of your day?
Since I am a house wife, I spend almost the entire day doing house chores such as washing clothes, dishes, looking after my 2 small kids, among others. I depend on my husband to bring food in the evening since he is a teacher in a nearby school. It is in the evening that I feel relaxed after the days activity and after my husband has return from job that completes my day.
What is the biggest hardship you've faced in your life?
Due to change of climate, we have been unable to harvest any crop in our area. We rely on maize to cater for the family and since we have been unable to harvest any maize, we opted for livestock rearing which is also a challenge owing to the fact that we face long period of drought (like four months in a year) thus getting food for our cattle is hard. The biggest hardship we have faced in life therefore, is change of climate in our area.
