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 felt so happy the moment I received money from GiveDirectly. It was around 8:00 am in the morning and I had heard that people had received their share the previous day. So many people had come around asking me if I had received mine. I felt so happy that finally I was going to be able to buy a dairy cow that we had planned for with my wife.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life since you started receiving payments from GiveDirectly.
The biggest difference in my daily life is the dairy cow that I bought. This has made my life more comfortable and made me and my family more happy. We had old mattresses that was making it quite uncomfortable for us to sleep peacefully and wake up happy. I am looking forward to receiving the second transfer
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
I used KES 40000 to buy a dairy cow and used the remaining amount of money to buy two mattresses and food for my family. I made a decision to buy a dairy cow since I had sold all the cows that I owned to pay school fees for my children and I was left with none. I have a huge parcel of land that is so useful with livestock keeping
Enrolled
access_time over 2 years ago
What does receiving this money mean to you?
We have been planning to expand our current small house with one extra room that will act as visitors' room. Whenever we have visitors and grandchildren around, we do not have extra space to accommodate them. This will cost us approximately KES 20,000. This will make our home more comfortable and welcoming. For the rest of the amount, we will purchase a dairy cow that will give us milk for domestic use. If there will be surplus milk, we can sell it to our neighbors and earn an income to meet other needs. Receiving this money, therefore, means better housing for us as well as improving our livelihood.
What is the happiest part of your day?
Three months ago, we harvested three bags of beans. These were the best yields compared to the previous year. We sold some of it to pay for hospital expenses and we are still eating some of it. It made us happy as we had something to ourselves.
What is the biggest hardship you've faced in your life?
I have not been feeling well for the past three weeks. We are both getting old too, we cannot work or farm, we depend on our children to help us meet our daily needs. We have been to several hospitals for medication, the main challenge being money for transport, medicines as well as hospital bills. The main challenge is insufficient finances.
