When GiveDirectly does well is uplifting the poor in the society and empowering them through the cash transfers to start something meaningful in their lives.

My husband who was the breadwinner of the family got accident that left him bedridden two years ago. Even since then, I have been the sole provider of my family through Charcoal burning. The business right now is not flourishing as it used to be two years ago because of COVID-19 impact and harsh economic conditions that we are facing as a country. My husband needs regular check-ups and with KES 400 that I earn per week, I cannot afford to provide for the family, pay school fees and cater for his medication. Most times, I'm forcing to borrow to be able to pay all the bills. If I had an alternative source of income, it wouldn't be a struggle as it has been. I had been thinking of starting a poultry farming business but I didn't have money to buy the chicken. With the recent transfer, I spend KES 1000 to buy 3 chicken and I'm hoping to buy more as the time progresses. I spend KES 1000 to buy school uniform for two of my children who had torn uniform and KES 1000 to buy food.

I was resting inside my house as I had walked for about 50 kilometers to fetch water for my use in the house. My daughter came into the house rejoicing that she had received her transfer. I immediately became anxious and checked my phone to confirm if I too had received my transfer. To my utter surprise, I found out that I had received the money too, and we both rejoiced and danced. Together with her, we headed to the Mpesa shop, where we withdrew the money. Later, we came home and planned on how to spend the money.

The money has made a big difference in my life. I now own a phone which I had never owned before. My relatives own phones which they never had. This is just but an example of how the money from the transfer has opened up avenues of uplifting our lives from the jaws of poverty that we have been living in for very many years.

Imagine a scenario where you go to school with your school uniforms torn beyond repair. My children have been in this same situation for the past two weeks. I was called by the headteacher and I promised to buy new uniforms for them. The problem is that I do not have any job and my husband who depends on working on other people’s farms could not get a job because of the harsh weather. This has left us very poor and with much struggle to a point, we go hungry for several days before we can get something to eat. When I received my transfer, I spent KSH 500 to buy two pairs of shirts for my children so that they will dress well just like other children in school and not in torn uniform. With a total school debt of KSH, 5600 cleared a portion of it by paying KSH 400 so that my children will continue staying in school. The remaining I bought three packets of maize flour to last us few days before we work out a plan to buy more food.