GDLive Newsfeed
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.
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Enrollment
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Transfers
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Completed
Newsfeed > Maurine's Profile
Maurine's family
Maurine
landscapeCountry:
kenya
workOccupation:
Teaching
faceAge:
34
workCampaign
Kenya Large Transfer
There will be no further updates from this completed recipient.
2nd Payment
Transfer Amount
55000 KES ($484 USD)
access_time over 2 years ago
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How is your life different than it would have been if you never received the transfer?
Immediately after I achieved my original goal of building a new house, I developed a new plan of supporting my husband's education. He had been desiring to advance his career by enrolling for a diploma course in civil engineering. As a family, we have begun to make some savings towards offering him that support. We hope that if succeed in his studies, he will be able to get more job opportunities thus it will be easier fr him to support his family. In addition to getting a formal job, he will also be able to start and run his own construction farm.
In your opinion, what does GiveDirectly do well, and what does it not do well?
In my opinion, GiveDirectly does well in giving direct cash transfers to its recipients with no conditions attached to it. This has given community members the opportunity to spend their transfers in a way that is beneficial to them. Being decision-makers of what to do with their transfer, many recipients have wisely spent their transfers to meet their needs. However, there is nothing that GiveDirectly does not do well.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
From my most recent transfers, I spent KES 20,000 to buy 20 iron sheets that we are going to use to build a new house. My husband and I have been spending in my parents-in-law's house. The parents-in-law have been away hence it was just okay for us to use one of the bedrooms in their house. However, they recently came back home and this necessitated the need for us to build a new house. In addition, I saved KES 30,000 which we shall build-up to help raise the required school fees for my husband's college education.
 
Initial Payment
Transfer Amount
55000 KES ($497 USD)
access_time 3 years ago
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Describe the moment when you received your money. How did you feel?
I am an ECD teacher and I was in class teaching when my message notification ringtone rang loudly. Upon checking it to know who would have sent me an SMS at that time, my heart was filled with joy on realizing that it was a Mpesa message from GiveDirectly. I called my spouse, shared with him the good news that I had received and he was equally happy.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life since you started receiving payments from GiveDirectly.
Financial constraints have been a major challenge to my family. I am an ECD teacher and my salary was not always enough to cater to our basic needs, pay school fees for our children, and remain with some to use in major developments like building a house. Due to this, we had to continue living in my mother-in-law's house. I am happy since we will be able to build our own house very soon using the transfer. This will give me a sense of pride and ownership as nothing feels good like having something to call your own.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
On receiving my transfer, I spent KES 15000 to buy a battery and a controller for lighting purposes since the one we had was faulty. Due to this, my children no longer studied in the evening as we did not even have a paraffin lamp. Also, I spent KES 4000 to cover medical expenses for my husband's mother who is aged and sickly, spent KES 5000 to buy some clothes for my family, and used KES 5000 on food to last us for some time. We still have KES 25000 that we are planning to use in building ourselves a house since we still live in my law's house. Being able to achieve this within a short time is the best thing that has ever happened to me and I am grateful to GiveDirectly for their contribution.
 
Enrolled
access_time over 3 years ago
 
What does receiving this money mean to you?
I have two cows but one of them is not mine. So when I get this money i would like to buy a dairy cow. A good dairy cow cost around 300 dollars. My husband works as a tutor in the nearby Polytechnic. His job is contract and can come to end at any time. He wants to study architecture so that he can start his own company. We expect to spend around 700-850 dollars to complete the course. This will enable us to get more income.
What is the happiest part of your day?
The happiest part of my day is in the evening. This is the time i get to rest knowing everything went through as planned.
What is the biggest hardship you've faced in your life?
The biggest hardship has been financial constraints. Sometimes its even hard to feed my family. The little money we get from teaching cannot sustain our needs. I used to do farming but our area is easily affected by drought. Whatever we grow in our farm sometimes withers due to lack of rainfall. My husband needed to study but because we didn't have enough money we prioritized food.