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 ($465 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 do not have a new goal that I did not have before receiving the transfer. I had planned on building a better and more spacious house. This is because we used to live in a small house which was leaking from inside. Currently, we have a decent house and we live happily with my family.
In your opinion, what does GiveDirectly do well, and what does it not do well?
Givedirectly does well by conducting training before doing the registration process. This is because people get to understand the project fully and agreed to be enrolled. I do not find anything that GiveDirectly did not do well.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
I spent KES 13,000 to pay school fees for my two children in secondary school. This was my main concern and priority since they were always being sent home to collect the school fees and this was affecting their performance. Currently, they are studying well without being disturbed. I spent part of the money to build a better and more spacious house for my family. We lived in a small house which was leaking from inside. This was so demoralizing and stressful especially when we had some visitors. We currently live in a decent house and we no longer get worried whenever we have friends and family at home. For the rest of the money, I bought food and household items. we are so grateful for the support because GiveDirectly has changed our living standards.
Initial Payment
Transfer Amount
55000 KES ($490 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 around 9 am when I heard a message alert on my phone. I was working on my garden farm while debating where I would get the money to use in paying school fees for my children who had just been sent back home. I became so happy after reading the SMS and rushed back home to inform my family about the good news. My children were overjoyed as they knew that they would be able to go back to school the same day. My family is so grateful for the timely financial aid that transformed our lives for the better.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life since you started receiving payments from GiveDirectly.
My children's education has always been my priority as I do not want them to live a miserable life like mine where they will be depending on any available casual work. Because of this, I usually do anything possible to make sure that I get money to use in paying their school fees and they had just been sent back home on that fateful day and as I was still debating on where to get money to use in paying school fees, I received the transfer. Currently, I am happy and live in peace since I was able to pay their school fees and remedial fee for this term. Apart from this, I am happy since I am a proud owner of a dairy cow and it is an investment that will enable me to pay their fees without much struggle when it calves.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
With the first KES 38000 of my transfer, I bought a dairy cow. This is an investment to me that will help me in educating my children as I will be using money from the sale of surplus to achieve this. In addition, I will be able to save the money I would otherwise use in buying milk since I currently spend KES 50 daily on them. Also, I used KES 13000 to pay school fees for my two children in secondary school who had been sent back home and used the remaining KES 3000 on food.
Enrolled
access_time over 2 years ago
What does receiving this money mean to you?
Since I got married 35 years ago, I have been living in the same grass thatched house which is very small. It serves as the kitchen, living space and where we sleep. My two daughters have difficulty when doing their studies in the evening because of the smoke from the fireplace, it also rains inside and this has affected their studies. I would like to build a two roomed house with iron roof and a separate kitchen with the first transfer .This will cost me a total of KES 48,000. This means they will have a place to comfortably read without straining and at the end they will get to finish their assignments on time and their performance too will improve.
What is the happiest part of your day?
The happiest part of my day is in the morning when I wake up and ready to go about the day's work. I am always thankful to God when I wake up healthy knowing it is another opportunity to go fend for my family. On a usual day I wake up to go and milk my one dairy cow and thereafter feed it before I leave to collect waste metals for sale from households until evening .
What is the biggest hardship you've faced in your life?
The biggest hardship I have faced is financial constraints. I collect scrap metal from the households in the village and neighbouring villages which I sell on Saturday to a broker in a nearby town. I earn KES 27 per kilogram and an average of KES 1,000 per week. This is not enough to cater for my family needs especially school fees for my two daughters in Secondary school. Also with my age the work is becoming more difficult and unfavourable.
