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
55000 KES ($436 USD)
access_time almost 2 years ago
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How is your life different than it would have been if you never received the transfer?
I am a lower primary school teacher and a mother of three children. My husband is a hardworking businessman who struggles to make ends meet. My immediate objective is to purchase a sizable tank that I would use to store water and install a tap in my house. In addition, I would like to start my own business of selling vegetables to my neighbors and hire someone to oversee the business.I believe that I would make a lot of profit and better my families lives.
In your opinion, what does GiveDirectly do well, and what does it not do well?
Before GiveDirectly, I had an idea of building my own house but due to financial limitations, I was unable. Thanks to GiveDirectly for fastening the whole process for us and making everything possible for my family. I would also wish that GiveDirectly would help people complete their projects because some people who received both transfers and spent them on building their houses are unable to complete the project because the money they received was not enough to help them complete it. I would really be happy if GiveDirectly will look into that matter.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
When I initially started receiving my transfers, my family and I sat down and chose how we would spend them. We made the decision to build a very large and spacious house because the home we currently live in is some how small. We were able to begin the foundation with the first transfers, but we ran out of money before we could finish. We used the second transfer I got to complete building our house. We spent $300 on coral stones to design our dream home and we spent the remaining $250 on cement and other minor expenses. With the transfers, we were able to construct a large, three bedroom house for ourselves. My kids have their own room and we also have a spare room for visitors. Thanks to GiveDirectly for enabling us to have our own desired home.
Initial Payment
Transfer Amount
55000 KES ($471 USD)
access_time over 2 years ago
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Describe the moment when you received your money. How did you feel?
The transfers came very early in the morning. I was asleep, normally when I wake up I check the phone first thing in the morning. Immediately I checked, I was so surprised to meet a notification of such a huge amount of money in my phone. At first, I was so undecided on how well to celebrate this, I started dancing as I jumped up and down. I had been struggling for a while financially and the transfers meant so much to me and my family as well.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life since you started receiving payments from GiveDirectly.
The biggest difference in my daily life is that we do not skip meals. Before the transfers, getting all the three meals in a day was a challenge. My children were in and out of the school in most of the days as a result of eating unhealthy foods.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
I am a younger mother to four kids. Before the transfers I had a small house, and all my kids could share the same bedroom due to inadequate space. With the transfers, I used Kshs 15,000 to expand my house, the kids are now so happy as they have their own bedroom.
I do subsistence farming for a living, before the transfers, I could do the farming manually and this could take alot of time to complete a piece of land for a given time, with the transfers I managed to buy two cows worth Kshs 30,000 and this has inturn helped in cultivating the farm.
Being that my family is not that large, I used the balance of Kshs 10,000 to buy food stock as getting regular and balanced diet has been the greatest challenge in my family. I thank Give Directly for the transfers as my children now eat very healthy foods.
Enrolled
access_time over 2 years ago
What does receiving this money mean to you?
My priority has always been to build a house since I set foot on this piece of land. I have tried to accumulate finances for the 8 years but the progress has been very little. The transfers will facilitate it's full completion. I have budgeted 100,000 KES for this. I feel embarrassed welcoming visitors to my tiny house. My children are also growing fast. I have four girls and the two rooms I have are not comfortable enough. My teenage daughter is old enough to have her privacy and hence the need for a bigger house.
What is the happiest part of your day?
My shop business is doing well and I already expanded and opened a food kiosk adjacent to it. For the last few months the business has been doing well and this makes me happy. The beginning of the year is usually tough for most businesses but for mine, it is doing fairly well.
What is the biggest hardship you've faced in your life?
My challenges are financial since the cost of living is so high that our income cannot sustain. My spouse does casual jobs in the construction industry. He earns 500 KES per day. I operate a small shop by the roadside near my home. This is not enough considering that my first born daughter is in secondary school and two others are in a private school. This has proofed to be very strenuous because there are other basic needs like food, clothing and shelter.
