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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2nd Payment
Transfer Amount
53150 KES ($441 USD)
access_time 2 years ago
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How is your life different than it would have been if you never received the transfer?
I have a new goal of leasing land for cultivation. We are currently living in a very small piece of land that allows us to practice minimal farming barely enough to feed my family. Getting extra cash would give me an opportunity to advance my farming practices and possibly make money out of it. This will not only lower the cost of living for us but will also open up more doors of investment from the returns that we will get from it.
In your opinion, what does GiveDirectly do well, and what does it not do well?
In my opinion GiveDirectly did very well by giving us support in form of cash. This gave us a sense of pride and we felt GiveDirectly respected our preferences on how we chose to spend the money. Many people were able to fulfill that which was in their hearts and we feel so much happy about this. I do not have anything in mind that I think GiveDirectly should improve or do better. Everything was simply amazing.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
I used KES 10000 to buy basic household commodities and used another KES 45000 to buy a dairy cow. We already owned one dairy cow but we would be faces with shortage of milk before the year ends. This got us thinking of buying another dairy cow to supplement the produce from the first cow and see us have milk all year round. I am happy that this particular problem will now be a thing of the past and that we will be able to get extra money to make other valuable investments that would make our lives better. We are a young family of two and we rely on small scale business that would only see us have enough money for food and nothing for savings and this was an opportune time to make this investment.
Initial Payment
Transfer Amount
55000 KES ($476 USD)
access_time over 2 years ago
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Describe the moment when you received your money. How did you feel?
It was a few minutes to 7 am while lighting a fire for breakfast. That's when I heard a message alert on my phone, on checking I confirmed to have received KES 55,000 from GiveDirectly. I was very excited and immediately relayed the good news to my husband who was still asleep and
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life since you started receiving payments from GiveDirectly.
Building a modern and spacious Iron roofed house is the biggest difference in my daily life since I received the transfers. This is a dream come true because I had desired to build it since I was married but couldn't afford it. This now accommodates up to twenty people at once compared to the previous one which could only accommodate ten.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
I am a mother of one and I rely on small-scale farming of maize, sugarcane, and sweet potatoes for household consumption.
When I received the transfers, I spent KES 38,000 on a 25 Iron roofed two-roomed house. This is because initially, I had a tiny Iron roofed house that could not accommodate visitors. But the new one is spacious enough to accommodate two rooms.
Secondly, I spent KES 5,000 on a goat because it grows fast and can be sold later for school fees.
Thirdly, I spent KES 5,000 on the latest clothing fashion for my family and KES 3,000 on repayment of a food debt. I also spent KES 2,300 on a thermos flask which can be used to serve visitors tea.
Enrolled
access_time over 2 years ago
What does receiving this money mean to you?
Receiving this money means a new business for me and my husband. We currently survive on casual jobs which are only available on Mondays in the nearby market. We are usually employed to carry luggage in the market on our backs throughout the day. The pay we get is usually KES.1,000 at the end of the day and that's what we spend on food and upkeep for the rest of the week as we wait for the following Monday. It is a very hard task that needs a lot of energy and we could do more if we had a hand cart or a motorcycle. With these transfers, we plan to purchase a motorcycle so that we would not be using our backs to carry the luggage anymore and my husband will be going alone as I remain behind to attend to farming duties. The motorcycle also on other days would be making us money through taxi services in the locality.
What is the happiest part of your day?
On the eve of the new year, I was gifted KES. 1,000 by a friend who had come to visit us. This gave me a lot of happiness because I never expected it and I put it to my savings.
What is the biggest hardship you've faced in your life?
The challenges that we are currently facing as a family include lack of a stable income, insufficient land space to do extensive farming, and crop failures due to drought and diseases. We depend mostly on farming but the land has become so small after we shared it with my siblings, we wish we had more land for farming. When we grow crops also it is so difficult for them to make it to maturity because they can either be destroyed by drought or diseases.
