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?
It was in the morning hours when I was in a work site doing casual job to earn a living when I received a message in my phone. I took some time to finalize the task I was doing before checking. When I checked, my heart was filled with happiness for getting such huge amount of money at once bearing in mind that I would work for so many months without getting such a figure at once.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life since you started receiving payments from GiveDirectly.
It was a pathetic living situation since I had no permanent source of income or job and whatever I was getting was from hand to mouth. But I appreciate GiveDirectly for its support. The transfer came on time of the drought when we highly need help. If it were not for the transfer, I can’t tell how we could have survived during that period.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
Being a parent of 7 children, I took the money and invested it my children’s education. I paid school fees of KES 20000.00 for my secondary school child, KES 10000.00 for my primary school children. Since it was a dry season, I used the rest for the family upkeep in terms of buying food and water.
Enrolled
access_time 3 years ago
What does receiving this money mean to you?
Receiving this money means renovating my house. This is because, my house leaks when it rains and it becomes difficult to sleep. I have a family of seven children sleeping in the same house. Some are very young. You can imagine a leaking house with young children inside. This has been my major problem. However, I have not been able to buy new iron sheets to renovate it. I depend on casual jobs that earns me less than 400KES which is not reliable because today you get a job, tomorrow it is not there. This money is not enough to take care of the basic needs of my family like basic education, food and shelter. I intend to use the cash transfers to renovate my house that will cost me around 40000KES. I will then use the remaining amount to pay school fees for my children.
What is the happiest part of your day?
I usually leave very early in the morning around 6am. I spend the whole day hustling for jobs. My main economic activity is house construction. So I spend the whole day out and return home in the evening at 8pm. During this time, I get an opportunity to meet my family again after a whole day. Seeing my family at this time makes me happy as we cook and take supper together with my children around me. I also get time to refresh myself as I prepare to face the next day. Evening therefore is the happiest part of my day.
What is the biggest hardship you've faced in your life?
Unreliable jobs has been the biggest hardship that I have ever faced in my life. Have you imagined spending the whole day looking for a job but you find none? This is the current situation that my family and I are facing. What makes it even more worrying is the burden of responsibility as the breadwinner for the family. I depend on casual jobs to feed and take my children to school. This has not been very easy since the jobs are not reliable and earns me less than 400KES. This has made life more difficult for me and my family. Upon receiving this money, it will be a relief to me because I will be able to pay school fees for my children, renovate my house and the rest for food.
