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.
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2nd Payment
Transfer Amount
53150 KES ($455 USD)
access_time over 2 years ago
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How is your life different than it would have been if you never received the transfer?
Initially, my goal was to buy a dairy cow but I changed my mind when I found a land that was being sold at an amount that I could afford when with the transfer. This was because, I have always wanted to buy land but I couldn't afford to raise enough capital by myself. I bought the land and my new goal now is to buy a dairy cow.
In your opinion, what does GiveDirectly do well, and what does it not do well?
First of all, I want to appreciate GiveDirectly officers for treating us with dignity during both enrollment and follow up. In my opinion, what GiveDirectly does well is keeping their promises and empowering communities.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
I have been living in my ancestral land which is not big enough for farming. My husband and I had plans of buying a land so that we can do farming to supplement our small income. Since my husband is a driver, he couldn't afford to save towards such a project and we were almost giving up on our dreams . When we were enrolled in the program, our first goal was to buy dairy cows so that can sell milk later and buy a land but we changed our minds when we found a land that was being sold at KES 70,000. We were able to pay KES 55,000 when I received my first transfer and I spend KES 15,000 of the recent transfer to clear the balance. I spend the balance to buy building materials so that we can build our new home in the same land and I am looking forward to saving so that I can be able to pay a mason. I am grateful for the financial support that I received from GiveDirectly.
Initial Payment
Transfer Amount
55000 KES ($484 USD)
access_time almost 3 years ago
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Describe the moment when you received your money. How did you feel?
I saw the message at around 4:00 pm and I felt so happy. The first person that I informed was my husband who was with me then and his reaction was priceless. We felt happy that the things we had ya wanted to do but which en did not have capacity were finally going to be achieved.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life since you started receiving payments from GiveDirectly.
The biggest difference is the piece of land that I bought. We had a very small piece of land that would not be possible to even share with other family members. We plan to build a new house in there and be. In a position to engage in other activities of my own.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
We used KES 45000 to buy a piece of land. We used the remaining amount of KES 10000 to pay school fees, buy food and clothes for or children. We were living in a small piece of land that was owned communaly and we were very limited in terms of what we could do with it. It is for this reason that we decided to buy our own and even planning to relocate to I once we build a house in it.
Enrolled
access_time almost 3 years ago
What does receiving this money mean to you?
Receiving this money will mean raising a healthy family by acquiring a dairy cow. We have been spending a lot of money buying milk for domestic use and it is costly as a family. In a day we spend approximately KES 100 on milk yet we have other household recurrent expenditures. Our dream has been to acquire a dairy cow which costs approximately KES 30,000. We will be able to consume sufficient milk and if need be, we will sell the surplus and earn some cash. I was glad when I heard that Give directly was coming to our village because I knew our dreams will soon materialize.
What is the happiest part of your day?
In the last 4 months, we were lucky to have last mile electricity connectivity in our household and this has brought happiness to our lives. Initially, we were using a car battery as a source of light and when it becomes low, we took it to the nearby town for charging. Because my husband works in the city, I used to wait for him to take it for charging when it becomes low and we were left in darkness. Recently, luck came into our family and we are now having enough lighting in the family and we are grateful for that.
What is the biggest hardship you've faced in your life?
A prolonged period of drought has been the biggest challenge we are currently facing. Throughout the year, we experience minimal rainfall in our area and this has led to low crop production. We have 0.3 acres of land which is under cultivation but unfortunately, we have grown nothing because since we cultivated it over the last 2 months, we have not experienced any rainfall. We no longer rely on our farms due to prolonged periods of drought and has been a major setback in our lives.
