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?
It was around 6pm while preparing vegetables for supper when I heard an SMS alert on my phone.On checking, I confirmed to have received KES55000 from GiveDirectly and I was very excited and ate supper that night joyfully.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life since you started receiving payments from GiveDirectly.
The biggest difference in my daily life since I started receiving the transfers is happiness because I now own a piece of land where my kids can call a home. Initially, I had saved towards purchasing land but diverted the money to a heifer which died five months after I bought it and I was discouraged.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
I spent KES50000 on a piece of land because as a single mum I needed a place where my kids could call home.I spent the rest on school fees, food and clothing.I normally rely on sand harvesting which is normal paid on a weekly basis to feed my family.
Enrolled
access_time almost 3 years ago
What does receiving this money mean to you?
Receiving this money will mean raising a healthy family by acquiring a dairy cow. I have been spending a lot of money buying milk for domestic use and it is costly as a single mother of 5. In a day I spend approximately KES 100 on milk yet I have other household recurrent expenditures. My dream has been to acquire a dairy cow which costs approximately KES 30,000. We will be able to consume sufficient milk and if need be, we will sell the surplus and earn some cash. I was glad when I heard that Give directly was coming to our village because I knew my dream will soon materialize.
What is the happiest part of your day?
We have had constant and sufficient rain for the last six months that has enabled us to farm and harvest rainwater that we have been able to use. This has cut down on the time that I spend fetching water and the exhaustion of fetching water has reduced and that has made me happy always.
What is the biggest hardship you've faced in your life?
The challenges I am currently going through include inadequate income and inadequate land for farming. I do not have enough space on the land I currently have to produce more crops. The crops would have even earned us an income. I however believe that with GiveDirectly's transfers the challenges will be something of the past.
