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?
I was with one of my sons who is also my helper when I heard my phone ring. As is usually the norm with me, I informed my son to check the contents of the message and he proudly and happily informed me that we had received a sum of KES 55000 from GiveDirectly. I was so elated on receiving this news. I already had ideas on n how I was going to spend the money and we were only slowed by the long queues in Mpesa agents such that we could not withdraw the money almost immedaitely. We later withdrew the money and spent it on dowry for my son and bought iron sheets for building a new house for my young sons too.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life since you started receiving payments from GiveDirectly.
The biggest difference in my daily life is the fact that the money has boosted me a lot in all aspects of my life. The money has restored the dignity that was slipping away with my in laws. The once beautiful relationship that I had with them is now restored after I was able to pay the dowry with GiveDirectly transfers. I am looking forward to doing much more once I get my second transfer especially in terms of agriculture and dairy keeping. I feel so much grateful to have been one of the beneficiaries of GiveDirectly transfers.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
I used KES 28000 to buy two heifers for paying dowry for my son and used another 10500 to buy pieces of iron sheets for building a new house for my children who would travel for long distances to their place of sleep every night. The remaining amount was used to buy food, foot medical bills for one of my child who fell sick and meet other basic household needs for my family. The decision to buy cows for paying dowry was because of the deteriorating relationship between my in laws and the fact that we had delayed in making the payments. I am happy that the beautiful relationship between us has been restored. As for the house that I built, it was informed by the fact that my children would have to travel for long distances evey night to sleep over a nearby shopping center. I did not find this safe for them especially during this electioneering period where they could easily be manipulated into doing things that would endanger their lives. I had not been able to accomplish all these before since I normally rely on horticultural crops to earn a living and the income that I get from it is hardly enough to feed my family.
Enrolled
access_time over 2 years ago
What does receiving this money mean to you?
I am an old father of 9 children. I am lucky that most of them are currently living independently. It has not been easy for me to bring up such a big family with no formal job. I have entirely depended on casual jobs and currently living on farming alone. I have lived in grass-thatched houses one after another since I could not afford to upgrade them. I lived and old one with its condition gets worse and worse each day. This cash to means new dawn in my family. I am planning to spend KES 25000 to build an iron-roofed house. I will no longer have to get stressed about the frequent repair like now. I will be collecting clean water for domestic use this reduce the struggle to get clean water. Thank you GiveDirectly for giving me a new life I had dreamt of for a long.
What is the happiest part of your day?
I am old thus my life currently is engaged on my farm. I no longer have children in school thus our major worry is our daily bread. In the last six months, my joy has been from my lactating cow. I have been able to earn an income through milk sales and I have had enough for consumption. I have been able to meet my daily needs through milk from my cow.
What is the biggest hardship you've faced in your life?
Food shortage is the biggest challenge I am facing. I practice mixed farming to enhance our access to daily household needs. Maize farming has not been doing well since the broke out of maize disease and low rainfall. Even though I own a dairy cow, its milk production is seasonal thus making it unreliable.
