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 extremely happy when received the notification of Mpesa way that morning. I could not read the message myself but I was pretty sure that it was about the transfers. I gladly woke up that early in the morning and started preparing breakfast so that I could start the day early in order to get time to plan for it and to start changing my life.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life since you started receiving payments from GiveDirectly.
The biggest difference in my daily life is having a better place to rest at night. Having a nice bed and a mattress makes me happy. I get to have a nice sleep unlike before when I used to spread rags on an old bed that belonged to my husband. The new bed gives me a whole new comfort. I am grateful that I have all these because of the Give directly transfer.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
I spent the transfer on buying a cow. I needed to have a cow for milk production . This is mainly because it is a good income generating activity here in my location. Keeping dairy cows is the most common farming activity only that I did not have one. I am now happy that I bought it. I then bought some household its that I was in dire need of. One of them is a bed and a mattress. I also bought some utensils and some foodstuffs.
Enrolled
access_time 4 years ago
What does receiving this money mean to you?
Receiving this money will enable me to buy a 3500 litre water tank @ $220 for harvesting and storing clean water whenever it rains, which will bring use of contaminated water from open water pans to an end. I will also invest my transfer in buying a dairy heifer @ $200 that will calf in one year's time hence an additional income from selling milk as well as building up savings from the ksh 60 that i spend daily in buying milk for family consumption. I will then use the remaining part of my transfer to buy food eg. Maize and beans to sustain my family till the next harvesting season.
What is the happiest part of your day?
My usual day involves working in my farm in the morning till midday when i come back home to prepare lunch for my family then take a rest in the afternoon as i bond with my grand children watching them play, which makes afternoon the happiest part of my day
What is the biggest hardship you've faced in your life?
8 years ago, crop farming is what we used to rely on in supporting our family since we had surplus harvests for sale as well as for family consumption. Currently, my spouse has to do menial jobs so as to earn some income to sustain family needs despite his old age. The little we harvest from our farms as a result of low productivity attrributed to unpredictable rains is barely enough for family consumption, which is the biggest hardship we face.
