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 ($467 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?
The new goal that I have in life is to start a poultry-keeping project. This is because it's easy to manage and convert to cash. Also, eggs are a good source of proteins and I can always use them instead of buying meat which is costly. Since I no longer have children to educate, I will be using the money from the sale of milk and farm produce to achieve this.
In your opinion, what does GiveDirectly do well, and what does it not do well?
GiveDirectly did well by giving out financial aid that enabled us to achieve so many things that we would not have been able to achieve on our own. Because of this, my living standards have improved and I will forever remain grateful to them. I do not see anything that they did wrong and I would urge them to continue with their good deeds.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
When I received my transfer, I bought a heifer worth KES 18000 and a goat at KES 5000. These are live assets to me that will help me in generating income that I can use to cater to my basic needs. Apart from this, I gave my daughter who is married KES 3000 to use in meeting some of her needs. In addition, I spent KES 5000 to rent an acre of land, spent the same amount on the purchase of hybrid maize seeds, and used KES 10300 to hire a tractor for land preparation and planting purposes. I decided on this since crop and dairy farming are my sources of livelihood that enabled me to educate my children and to meet our basic needs. On the remaining amount, I bought some foodstuffs to last for some time
Initial Payment
Transfer Amount
55000 KES ($495 USD)
access_time 3 years ago
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Describe the moment when you received your money. How did you feel?
With the early morning chores that I was carrying out that morning within the house, I received a message that after checking, it sparked a lot of excitement. I was happy to finally receive the money that I was promised some weeks ago and that I had been planning on how best I would spend on the new construction alongside other projects. I was alone in the house when I received this news and had to complete the household work before visiting the local shops where I withdrew all the amount that afternoon.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life since you started receiving payments from GiveDirectly.
Complete construction of a new house is so far the biggest difference in my daily life after receiving my first transfer. It is so far the biggest accomplishment I have made this year after using an old kitchen that was leaking on the roof whenever it rained for a very long time. I am grateful to GiveDirectly for this support and hoping to even buy a cow once I received the second transfer.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
The construction of a new house after receiving my first transfer came was a priority since I needed a new kitchen to demolish an old hut that I had been using for a long time. I spent KES 40000 on iron sheets, building poles, and nails that I had to buy before the construction, and later paid KES8000 to the labor force that worked both on the demolition of the old kitchen and the construction of a new house. With the remaining amount, I had to visit the hospital when I was not feeling well, paid KES25000 after check-up, and was given some medication that I am glad healed me. I also had to add some foodstuff to our store since we were already exhausting the little harvest that we had gotten the previous season.
Enrolled
access_time over 3 years ago
What does receiving this money mean to you?
Receiving this money means that I will start an income-generating activity. I used to work in other people's farms as a casual laborer, mainly to pay school fees for my children and to buy food. When the children completed their college education, I stopped going for these hard labor jobs. I then developed a leg problem where my knees ache most of the time, making it difficult for me to comfortably move around. Because of this, I want to keep a cow, some sheep and start poultry keeping when I receive this money. I will build a poultry house and buy the birds for about $ 300. I will then buy two dairy cows for approximately $ 500. This initiative will provide me with a daily income from selling milk and eggs of about Kes $4 a day. This will be sufficient to make my life comfortable because I spend about $2 a day on household needs.
What is the happiest part of your day?
The happiest part of my day is in the evening when I have completed the day's work. My job is hard. I have to graze the few animals I have together with those of my children on farms away from home. I usually struggle to find the feeds and even water for them. In the evening I rest having collected some money from selling milk. It makes me happy having my cows back in the compound after a day's hustle to graze them.
What is the biggest hardship you've faced in your life?
The biggest hardship in my life is the lack of food for myself here at home. Ever since I stopped working casual jobs, I rely on my children, who also do not have employment. They give me foodstuffs that can last me for about a month. Having to wait on them stresses me as I sometimes run out of food before they can provide again. I just stay at home because I have a knee problem. I cannot do anything for myself. It is very difficult to survive on my children's earnings from casual jobs and small businesses.
