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 ($490 USD)
access_time almost 3 years ago
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How is your life different than it would have been if you never received the transfer?
My life is different than it would have been if I never received the transfers in that I have bought building materials and started building a shop. I operate a motorcycle taxi business and the money that I get through this business is so small and cannot meet all the basic needs of my family. I was not in a position to save some money to buy the materials for building. I have always had an idea of building a shop. When I received the second transfer from GiveDirectly I felt so happy because this was my dream come true. I have bought the materials and already work is on progress. I am also in a position to pay workers who are doing the construction. I have a plan of starting a business of selling good and services soon when the construction is done. This will earn me an extra income to meet those basic household needs and the extra profit I will save to build more houses in the future. I am so grateful for the support from GiveDirectly because it has enable my dream to come true.
In your opinion, what does GiveDirectly do well, and what does it not do well?
In my opinion GiveDirectly does well by giving money to the poor in the community to build better houses and to buy food. I do not find anything that GiveDirectly did not do well.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
I spend the money I received from GiveDirectly to buy building materials and started building a shop. I am almost done ready to start business.
Initial Payment
Transfer Amount
55000 KES ($493 USD)
access_time over 3 years ago
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Describe the moment when you received your money. How did you feel?
It was early the morning, I had woken up but I was still in my bed scrolling through my phone. Suddenly there was an SMS alert on my phone and opened it to check it. I saw that it was an SMS saying that I had received some amount. I thought at first that someone had sent me 55/= to my phone, but on checking it well, I could not believe my eyes when I read that I had received 55000/= in my Mpesa account from GiveDirectly. I was so happy to see this and I thanked God because I knew that my dreams were now going to be fulfilled.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life since you started receiving payments from GiveDirectly.
The transfer is going to bring a big difference in my life. Having bought the motorbike, I am now back to business. The business is doing very well since there are a lot of customers. It is bringing in more money as compared to the barbershop. I have been able to use the money that I have already gotten from the motorbike business in tilling the land and planting it. It is planting season in my area and hence the money has helped me a lot. The money that I will be getting from this motorbike business is going to help me with many other things. Thank you GiveDirectly for coming up with this program. May God bless you so that you may continue helping other people.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
The transfer from GiveDirectly has helped me a lot. I used the transfer to buy a motorbike for my business. I used to do the motorbike business of moving people from one place to another but I had stopped for a while and gave the motorbike that I had at the time to someone else. The person has been using the motorbike in transporting his goods for selling from one place to another. When I gave out the motorbike, I decided to open a barbershop which I have been operating since then. When I was enrolled in the GiveDirectly program and I was told that I will receive the lump-sum transfer, I planned and decided that I will use it to buy a new motorbike. The reason why I decided to go back to the business is that there are a lot of customers in the business. The money from GiveDirectly was however not going to be enough for me to buy a brand new motorbike. I hence decided to sell the old motorbike that I had, to the person who has been using it. I added the money that I got from the sale to the one that I received from GiveDirectly and it hence became enough. I then left the barbershop business to someone else for him to run it.
Enrolled
access_time over 3 years ago
What does receiving this money mean to you?
Receiving this money will enable me to build a retail shop where I will be selling household utensils, groceries and commodities in the neighborhood. I also intend to buy one dairy cow for milking to save on buying milk for family consumption.
What is the happiest part of your day?
I usually spend my day at the shopping center where I am employed in a barber shop. Since the onset of corona virus pandemic, my wages have greatly declined since schools are closed yet my clients were mostly school going children. I am always happy in the evening when counting on the day's profit, an assurance that I would not go home empty handed.
What is the biggest hardship you've faced in your life?
At the beginning of this year, my mother was diagnosed with an abdominal tumor, a condition that has forced us to sell all our livestock as well as our 5 acre piece of land for her treatment. It feels so depressing seeing her on and off hospital yet my siblings and I are in an helpless situation. She is supposed to undergo a surgery costing $1200 and the amount has proven hard to get.Being the only boy in a family of six, my mother and sisters are fully dependent on me. I work in a barber shop and earn 180 shillings daily, all of which is spent buying food for the family. This is the biggest hardship we face
