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.
How is your life different than it would have been if you never received the transfer?
Before the transfers, I only relied on my income from the cloth business. Occasionally I would go for construction jobs just to meet our needs when the business was not doing well. I would struggle to pay school fees arrears for my children, rent for the house and other basic needs of the family. This is because the income from the business was not much and I did not want it to collapse since it was the only stable income I had. I would have to look for other means of finding money so as to meet our needs such as borrowing. With GD transfers, life has been moving on well unlike before. I never go for construction jobs as before because from the business and the transfers, I get enough to meet our needs. I am glad I have a peace of mind and I don't fail my family whenever I promise them anything.
Do you have any new or additional goals for your life?
For now, I will focus my transfers in boosting my cloth business which has been my main source of income for the past two years. I would want to make it more stable when I am still receiving these transfers from GD so that it will be able to sustain my family needs for long. Right now, I can't depend on it because it can collapse anytime. This is why I would want to ensure it is stable enough to sustain my family needs.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
I spent my transfer on paying my house rent. I used the money I had to take my child to school because he would not have been allowed in school without fees. This is why I waited for the transfer to pay my house rent. The rest of the transfer I used on buying food for the family. We had agreed with my wife to buy food once a month because it helps cut on our daily expenditure. At least these days I can save some amount on a daily basis because of GD transfers.
12th Payment
Transfer Amount
3997 KES ($39 USD)
access_time almost 5 years ago
attach_money
How is your life different than it would have been if you never received the transfer?
I only depended on casual construction jobs before the project was launched in my area of residence. The jobs were not mostly available hence my income was very limited. It was very tough providing decent meals to my family and paying the bills was even tougher. After I started receiving the transfers, I started a business on shoes which has been a good financial source for my needs and family requirements. As at the moment, I am even confident that I will be able to pay for my daughter's school fees with ease when she joins high school.
Do you have any new or additional goals for your life?
I do not have any new goals at the moment other than to ensure that my business flourishes and does better than ever, especially now that I have more school fee obligations as my daughter will be joining high school next year. I need to be in a better financial position to provide for her school needs as well as pay for the school fees in time to avoid her being sent home for fee-related issues.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
I have a daughter who just completed primary school and will be joining high school early next year. To avoid the back-to-school rush that is experienced at the beginning of the year which mostly comes with a hike in the prices of most school supplies, I decided to use the whole amount I recently received to buy the supplies for my daughter when the prices are still affordable.
8th Payment
Transfer Amount
5000 KES ($48 USD)
access_time over 5 years ago
attach_money
How is your life different than it would have been if you never received the transfer?
Currently, my life is different from how it was in that, I am assured of getting my transfer at the end of the month. The money has been helping me to take care of my needs easily. I have been able to learn how to handle my budget and I can proudly say that I do take loans and debts from friends and friends unlike before where I was forced to depend on the money from my business only.
Do you have any new or additional goals for your life?
My new goal is to have a business structure. Currently, I hawk lady's shoes on the streets but this has been challenging because the county council officers have been arresting hawkers. I was once arrested but luckily found my way out of the cell after facing the court. I would not want to break the law again and this is why I am determined to get a business premise where I can even attract more customers.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
I spent part of my transfer to boost my business. I normally hawk lady's shoes. This is what I like doing because the income is good. Although it has challenges, I can never compare that to the profits that I get. The business is now stable and I am glad that I get money by the end of the day. I also paid school fees for my child who had been sent home for three days due to fee arrears. I had not paid last term's fees. The transfer really helped me to clear the amount and I am only remaining with a few amounts of money to clear this term's fee too.
4th Payment
Transfer Amount
5000 KES ($50 USD)
access_time over 5 years ago
attach_money
Do you have any new goals that you didn't have before receiving the transfer?
The new goal I now that I have started receiving the money is to build some rental houses in my plot after actualizing my current plan. I am planning to expand my current business so that it will give me money to actualize my new goal. I will be using my monthly transfers to achieve this. I will also be saving some money on a daily basis which I will later use in building these rental houses. I settled on this because I have a family plot which is situated near an upcoming town back at my rural home. Because of this, I am sure that I will get tenants to live in my houses. I will be using my monthly income I will be getting from these houses to gather for my family needs and to invest in my children's education.
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 payments from GiveDirectly is happiness. This is because my landlord has never come to ask for his rent at my house as I now pay my rent on time. I have been able to save what I get from my business and use them to pay rent on time because my business is now more profitable unlike before since I have been able to expand it. All this has been possible because off GiveDirectly and I am always grateful and I keep on praying to God to continue blessing them so that they can be able to save more souls by helping them.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
I spent part of my most recent transfer to pay school fees for my child so that I would not have any outstanding balance with school. By doing so, it would enable me to have peace of mind and to concentrate on expanding my business. I am a malimali trader since my small amount of income could not allow me to start a bigger business. Due to the nature of my work and the small amount of income I get from it, I would not be able to expand it since I also have to cater for my family needs using the same money. This prompted me to use the remaining amount to add some stock in my business so that I would be able to earn a little more from it by selling more items in a day.
Describe the moment when you started receiving transfers. How did you feel?
I had heard rumors from people who had received their transfer the previous month that the transfers are normally sent on the fifth day of every month. I was surprised at first when I woke up on that day and saw an M-pesa message and another message indicating that I had received money from Givedirectly but after some people informed me that they had also received, I became so happy. This money meant a lot in my life as I knew that I would be able to meet all my family needs on time using them. Starting to receiving these transfers brought happiness and joy in my life and I am always grateful to GiveDirecty for putting a smile in my face.
Enrolled
access_time almost 6 years ago
What do you plan to do with the cash transfer?
My first priority will be adding stock to my business so that I can get more profits so that I can meet my daily needs. Second priority will be paying school fees to my child because, it has always been a challenge paying school hence didn't like seeing my child being send at home. Third priority I will use part of transfer to pay rent because it has been a struggle looking for money to pay rent.
Describe your biggest worry.
My top concern is poverty, poverty usually leads to low self-esteem, one always feels alienated when they are round people, this lead to depression where it lead to bad choices such as stealing from others, using heavy drugs like bhang and these that lead to death in future.
What are your greatest ambitions?
The kind of life that am living has never been my choice is only the situation that put me there. You will find that sewage is flowing within households and this usually promote health hazard's like cholera and typhoid. Therefore I want to live in place where there is clean environment, have my own house but not to deal with landlord every month, driving my own not dealing with rude conductors every time. I just love living in a comfortable life.
Describe your usual day. How do you spend your time?
As a business man, I usually don't have a free time, because, If i fail to go to work then that means, there will be no food for the day, hence I have to open my business daily in order to meet my daily needs.