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 ($431 USD)
access_time over 1 year ago
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How is your life different than it would have been if you never received the transfer?
I hope to start my own business next year . This will include a grocery shop and charcoal on the side .start business. I have opted for this business because I want to finally take a break from the daily routine of going to the forest to cut wood , I just want to relax . I'll need approximately $200 to set up this business . I'm currently working hard , doing casual jobs to raise this capital .
In your opinion, what does GiveDirectly do well, and what does it not do well?
This organization does everything well and in an organised manner . The best thing you do is giving out money for free which is non refundable . Thanks to you , I have bought goats , everyone else in my village is grateful . I have no where to correct you, I just urge you to continue helping the needy .
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
I'm jobless , and my only source of income is charcoal burning . I'm a single mother of three children . I was so happy to receive this money because I knew that it would be of great help to me and my children would not be hungry anymore . I had really wished to do goat keeping since it would help me to buy basic needs and pay school fees for my children in future . I bought four goats worth $200 . I had been sleeping on a traditional rope bed which was so uncomfortable ! So I bought a bed worth $80 and a mattress worth $60 . My two children who are in primary school had school fees arrears of $89 which I cleared using part of the transfer . I then saved $100 which I now use to buy food stuffs like flour , sugar and vegetables daily .
Initial Payment
Transfer Amount
55000 KES ($462 USD)
access_time over 1 year ago
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Describe the moment when you received your money. How did you feel?
No sooner had I finished cooking than I saw a message on my phone. This message could take longer before seeing it but I had taken the phone to use the torch to search for some items in the kitchen. Upon checking the message, it was the first transfer from GiveDirectly. I was so happy to receive a huge sum of money for the first in my life. That evening, I ate my super happily than usual.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life since you started receiving payments from GiveDirectly.
Getting daily food has been a challenge for my family. Providing some food for them was a big struggle on my side since I relied on making and selling charcoals which were not easy to be got. Since the time I received the first transfer from you, I have been having enough food and my family has been happy than before. I also manage to get a nice place where I sleep and for once I see myself as a human being because I sleep well.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
For so many years I desired to have a nice place to sleep. I have been sleeping on a small broken traditional bed covered with a mat which was not comfortable but due to the poverty level, I had no option. My main source of income was from making and selling charcoal which could not even sustain my family in terms of food provision. When I withdrew the money, I first bought a bed and a mattress for KES 9000.00 and KES 8000.00 respectively so that if I sleep I also feel like a human being. I also paid KES 5000.00 school fees plus some arrears for my two primary school children who were regularly on their way home for fees. As of now, they are settled in school. Thereafter, I decided to do an investment in livestock. I bought five gala goats who were already pregnant at KES 5000.00 each. The aim was to keep them and once they procreate, I would be selling the young ones once they mature for the family's upkeep. For the remaining amount, I bought food for the family.
Enrolled
access_time almost 2 years ago
What does receiving this money mean to you?
I separated with my husband four years ago after a disagreement.Conflicting on his decision of marrying a second wife. He chased me away with my two children. When I arrived back to my maternal home, my brothers also were against me. I had to sleep in my mother's kitchen. I build an extension room on my mother's kitchen to create a living room for me and my two children. I have been struggling to look for food for my children by doing any kind of casual labor before me so that I can feed my children. I was employed as a vegetable vender at a shop nearby my shopping center. The business was booming but the owner decided to close it after a prolonged drought where it was hard to get fresh vegetables for sale. I have been looking for any kind of work so that I can earn a living but still always thinking of where to get a capital inorder to to start the veggies business. It was a well paying business. Receiving this money means I will open the business and run it as my own. I believe I will be getting excellent profit as before and plan for my children's future.
What is the happiest part of your day?
I was given aday time house helper job by my neighbor looking for his children for 3 month on January this year. He lives near my compound and I appreciated the offer. What brought joy and happiness to me is that I was relieved from the straneous work of charcoal burning and I got a salary of KES 5000 per month which enabled me to buy new clothes for my children and a stock of food.
What is the biggest hardship you've faced in your life?
I am burning charcoal in mostly to purchase food for my children. I depend entirely on charcoal business although it's very straneous and a man's job.My children have no proper gear to put on, my much attention is to make sure they have something to eat. Struggling for my children's food without a proper means of earning is the greatest challenge I have in life.
