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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2nd Payment
Transfer Amount
53150 KES ($442 USD)
access_time 2 years ago
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How is your life different than it would have been if you never received the transfer?
I am happy and satisfied with the great milestone that I have achieved so far. Currently, I do not have any new goals in the pipeline due to financial constraints.
In your opinion, what does GiveDirectly do well, and what does it not do well?
My life has changed generally, this is because I was able to send my children to school. The lives of our fellow village mates have been empowered too, people have built decent houses and others bought livestock and many other things. We are forever grateful for the support that lifted our lives.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
I am a farmer and a mother of five children engaged in consistent farming. Upon the receipt of my second transfer, I opted to fence my land to ease grazing. This is because my children are all in school meaning that I would be left to do all the work of herding the cows by myself. Therefore, I saw it fit to use KES 30,000 on fencing. Additionally, farming has been the source of our livelihood thus I used KES 20,000 on the same. Lastly, we stocked enough foodstuffs with the remaining amount of the transfer. Receiving money from GiveDirectly has been of great impact on our lives thus we are indebted to them.
Initial Payment
Transfer Amount
55000 KES ($476 USD)
access_time over 2 years ago
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Describe the moment when you received your money. How did you feel?
It was 7 am and I was on my way to a merry-go-round group meeting. I decided to check my phone since I had not checked it since the time I woke up. I saw that I had a new message and on opening it, I was surprised when I read that I had received KES 55000 in my mobile money account. I was so happy and I thanked God for the blessing. On arriving at the meeting, I saw most of my group members with smiles on their faces and I knew that they must have received the transfers too. We celebrated together as others continued receiving the good news too. That day was the happiest in our community.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life since you started receiving payments from GiveDirectly.
The transfer has brought a very big difference into our lives as a family. We managed to finish building the house and hence the children now have a nice place to sleep in. Our child in the university was also able to go on with his studies well. We also managed to fence our farm and hence we no longer worry about the cows going to the farm and destroying crops. Thank you so much GiveDirectly for the support.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
We spent KES 25000 of our recent transfer on building another house. We decided to build the house because the children didn't have a nice place to sleep in. They have been sleeping in the kitchen. It has always been our wish to build them another house where they could sleep but due to financial constraints, we were not able to. We are small-scale farmers and we usually grow crops such as maize and vegetables and sell them to earn a living. The money that we get is only enough to pay school fees for the children and buy food for our consumption. We also spent another KES 15000 on paying university fees for one of our children. We also bought barbed wire at KES 8000 and we used it to fence our farm. We did so so that we could restrain the cows from going to the farm and destroying crops. This usually most happens when the children have gone to school and there is no one to look after them time to time as they graze. With the remaining transfer amount, we used it on buying clothes for our children.
Enrolled
access_time almost 3 years ago
What does receiving this money mean to you?
Receiving this money means better health for my spouse who has been unwell for 10 years now. We have used all our resources to meet her medical expenses and currently struggling to raise more. Receiving this money will give us room to redeem ourselves by buying a dairy cow with KES 20,000. This will produce enough milk for consumption hence proper diet. The rest I will use in purchasing his medication which costs KES 18,000 per month. I am happy because the transfers i will get from Give directly will relieve this burden from me.
What is the happiest part of your day?
As a business person, the month of December was at the peak season since school had closed and the neighboring villages received transfers from Give directly that boosted my business. This brought me joy because that month my husband got all the prescribed medication.
What is the biggest hardship you've faced in your life?
I have two children at the university level and three others at the primary level. Raising them has been a challenge to us since most of my money goes into meeting the medical expenses for my husband. What remains only caters for food but is unable to pay for school fees. They rely on government education loans which are not sufficient. This has left me with huge arrears.
