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 ($420 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?
As I had mentioned prior, I have a daughter who is pursuing a secondary education and most of the times her school fees are quite expensive. Therefore my biggest focus at the moment is to ensure that I keep my daughter in school by paying for her tuition. I also plan to ensure that we always have food on the table because it is constantly a challenge for me and my family due to drought.
In your opinion, what does GiveDirectly do well, and what does it not do well?
I honestly you want to commend the Organization for the help that it offered us and the amazing job it has done in our personal lives so far. I have no idea when my daughter would have gone back to school were it not for Give Directly sending me the money when they did.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
As soon as I got the chance to go ahead and retrieve the transfers, my first spending was focused on making an investment on my farm. I decided to spend KES 20,000 in buying a cow because I was hoping that it would help me when it came to farming as well as financed is the future in case I was in a bind. I also decided to spend KES 10,000 in paying tuition for my daughter because she had already been kicked out of school. Apart from that, I decided to put aside an extra KES 10,000 in case I needed money for my daughter's tuition in the future and then used the rest of the remaining funds on nourishment.
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?
I heard a message tone from my phone at around 7 am while I was just relaxing at home. Due to old age, there is no specific task that I am engaged in. since I do not know how to read, I consulted my daughter who confirmed to me that I had received the first transfer from GiveDirectly. My heart was filled with great joy and happiness for receiving such a huge amount of money at once, knowing that I will be able to sort out some things which were challenging me.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life since you started receiving payments from GiveDirectly.
Initially, my living standard was very poor, poverty had taken a better part of my life thus I was not confident in myself. Sleeping on the floor on sacks was not something to be happy about but since I had no alternative I had to. As of now, my life has turned into a new leaf because I sleep on a nice bed and a mattress something that I did not see it coming anytime soon. My family has an access to food not as before when they used to sleep hungry for some day. I am grateful for this far GiveDirectly has brought me because if it were not for it, I would be still sleeping hungry and on the floor.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
On the very day of withdrawing the money, I bought a bed and a mattress for KES 12000.00 because for a while I had been sleeping on sacks. Again I bought a sack of maize for KES 5000.00 since getting food had been a challenge due to the drought in our area. Thereafter, I opted to pay KES 20000.00 school fees for my secondary school child who has been on and off school due to school fees. Thereafter, I bought a goat for KES 3500.00 and kept the remaining amount for the family’s upkeep.
Enrolled
access_time over 2 years ago
What does receiving this money mean to you?
I am widow, my husband passed away seven years ago and left me with two young ones, my granddaughter and my daughter who I have been raising alone for that period.
I am charcoal burner and business at the moment is not paying at all, providing basic needs and even paying for their school fees has been a big elephant in the room.
My daughter will be in form two next year and the grandchild will be grade two next term, they all have a huge balance and I was so devastated on where to raise the whole amount.
Today I can God has heard my cry and upon receiving the first transfer of 55,000 KSH I plan to use 40,000 to pay all the school fees arrears and use the remaining amount to budget for food.
What is the happiest part of your day?
I raise goats, and in the last two months, one gave birth to twins, this made me so proud and am sure I will be able to sell them at a good profit
What is the biggest hardship you've faced in your life?
I have few challenges on paying school fees for my daughter and my granddaughter, who are chased from school time to time to fetch school fees.
Providing for their basic needs is also a big challenge, especially getting three meals a day, most times I end up not selling any bags of charcoals and we end up sleeping hungry.
