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?
I felt very much happy the moment I received money from GiveDirectly. I said a prayer to God to all the people that made it possible for me to receive the transfer. To me this was one of the greatest blessings I have ever received. I got to receive the money at around 5:00 pm when I was working in my farm. I could not share the information with anyone since I felt I could fall in the hands of fraudsters who would steal my money. I kept the information secret except for some few family members whom I trusted would not steal from me.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life since you started receiving payments from GiveDirectly.
The biggest difference in my daily life is the dairy cow that I bought with the transfers. This dairy cow has brought a lot of difference in my life in that we now have enough milk supply for consumption and even have enough to sell as well to meet other basic household needs. This dairy cow has been a game changer to me in my family and we are looking forward to having more milk supply once it has a new baby calf. This will see us have more milk supply and better the living standards of our family.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
I used KES 35000 to buy a dairy cow and used another KES 12000 to buy maize for local consumption and the remaining amount was used to improve my business of selling clothes and purchasing a mattress too. For a long time, I had had to live without a dairy cow of my own having sold all the livestock that I owned to pay school fees for my children who were in university then. I had to go knocking on doors each day to look for milk, something that wasted much of my time and took most of my money and often left me stressed up. I could not be able to buy one yet since the amount of money that I made from my small business of selling clothes was hardly enough to buy food for me. I am now very happy and grateful to have bought the dairy cow since I now have enough milk to feed the family while I even sell some to buy other basic needs for family. I am particularly grateful to officer that nudged me to make good use of the money saying that I will never receive such a transfer again from GiveDirectly.
Enrolled
access_time over 2 years ago
What does receiving this money mean to you?
I am currently doing a second-hand clothes business around the village. I persevere the hot sunny and sometimes rainfall moving around the village to market my clothes. Even though I like farming, a half-acre piece of land I own, is not enough to rely on alone. I am growing old and soon I will not be in a position to do the business again. I have always wished to add a cow so that I could focus on livestock keeping as I stop the business. This cash transfer means better farming. I am planning to use KES 40000 to buy a cow. This means I will have more milk production from my farm. I will be selling more to earn an income and also keep some litres for my consumption. I feel I will a easier job to do at my older depend.
What is the happiest part of your day?
I started doing business soon after my husband passed on. I have done different businesses depending on the season and resources I had. Currently, I operate a second-hand clothing business earning an average of KES 250 per day. In the last six months, this has been my joy. I have gotten my basic needs through this business.
What is the biggest hardship you've faced in your life?
Food insecurity is the biggest challenge I am facing. Though I no longer have minors depending on me, my resources have been shared with my children to enable them to provide for their families. The half an acre piece of land I have is not enough to make ends meet for me. The poor rainfall and crop diseases have made our farming worse.
