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 am a tailor and I was in my shop going on with my daily activities when one of my daughters came and informed me that people had already received their transfer from GiveDirectly. On checking my phone, I realized that I had no network and had to go outside searching for it. Upon restarting it, I received a Mpesa message which I read to confirm that it was indeed from GiveDirectly, and on realizing that it was from them, I became so happy and started jumping up and down due to excitement and my children joined me in celebration.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life since you started receiving payments from GiveDirectly.
The biggest difference in my daily life is that I am now a happy person since I know that very soon I will start building my dream house. I have already bought all the necessary materials except cement and my second transfer will come in handy in achieving this. I am glad that I have been able to achieve this goal earlier than expected since I was planning to continue with it after all my children are done with their studies. I have already agreed with my spouse to deal with our children's education as I concentrate on the construction work. All this would not have been possible had it not have been for GiveDirectly and I am grateful to God for leading them to my village.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
It has always been my desire to live in a permanent house since it is long-lasting and it comes with some pride and new status in society. I had already started buying some building materials but had to leave this project pending and concentrate on paying school fees for my children. Currently, two are in secondary school while the others are through with their studies and when I received my transfer, I decided to revive my construction project. I spent KES 53600 to buy some building blocks and used the remaining KES 1000 on some foodstuffs for my family. I am happy and grateful to GiveDirectly for enabling me to continue with this project that I thought would still take two years before resuming it.
Enrolled
access_time 3 years ago
What does receiving this money mean to you?
I had a plan of constructing a permanent house but I had children in different schools school and we had to pay their school fees so it delayed us. We have managed to purchased some few materials but still not enough. So when I get this transfer I will use to purchase remaining materials for construction. I need building blocks at a place called Mulot costing KES 52000. The remaining amount will go to foundation.
What is the happiest part of your day?
The happiest part of my day is day time. This is the time I am busy with my tailoring business. It brings joy knowing i will have money to feed my Family.
What is the biggest hardship you've faced in your life?
The biggest hardship has been drought. I have a land but I cannot do farming due to lack of rainfall. I used to work in a nearby farm called Olerai, I would wake up early as 4 am to walk then come back late hours. My husband was not supportive too. The little money i could get from the casual jobs I bought sheep and cows but my husband wouldn't agree so I had to give neighbors to keep for me which i couldn't benefit from it even though they were mine. I decided to left casual jobs and started learning tailoring.
