GDLive Newsfeed
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.
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Enrollment
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Completed
Newsfeed > Ibrahim's Profile
Ibrahim's family
Ibrahim
landscapeCountry:
kenya
workOccupation:
Street trading - non-food (self-employed)
faceAge:
20
workCampaign
FSD / Urban Youth
Upcoming Stage
Next Payment
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Follow to be updated on Ibrahim's next check-in.
 
14th Payment
Transfer Amount
3997 KES ($40 USD)
access_time 4 years ago
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How is your life different than it would have been if you never received the transfer?
I have a cloth business which has been my main source of income for the past two years. Since my family needs have always depended on it, it has not been doing well and I have always had to take loans occasionally to boost it. Managing household needs through this process to has been very difficult for me. By God's grace, the business has never collapsed. Receiving these transfers really brought a lot of changes in my life. I have never taken a loan again to boost the business. I have been using transfers to boost the business on a monthly basis. As a result, I have managed to pay back all my debts and the fear of the business collapsing is never there again.
Do you have any new or additional goals for your life?
My new goal is to use the money to pay for driving school classes which I started last month. I have not been able to finish the one month course because of finances and since I am getting money from GD, I would want to use them to finish the course.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
I used part of my transfers to pay back a loan I took from Mshwari. The money helped me to boost my cloth business which was not doing very well. Without the loan, the business would have collapsed by now. This is why I chose to pay back the money since it was very helpful. The rest of the transfers I have saved for any financial emergency in the family. I always refer to spare some amount so that in case I have any financial crisis, I don't run to the business resources first. This help the business to grow well.
 
12th Payment
Transfer Amount
3997 KES ($39 USD)
access_time over 4 years ago
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How is your life different than it would have been if you never received the transfer?
Before I started benefiting from this project, I had already set up my current video game business from the savings I had made from casual construction jobs. The business was in a very pathetic state with only one computer at the time forcing my customers to queue because only one person could play at a time. With the transfers I have been receiving, I have so far managed to buy two more machines which have improved my overall earnings as I can now host more customers. I am also able to fix any malfunctions within the shortest time possible using the transfers ensuring that the business is always active.
Do you have any new or additional goals for your life?
I had previously mentioned that I would like to expend my video game business by buying more games and equipment to attract and accommodate more costumers at a time. I have however not yet managed to save enough money to buy more equipment as I had hoped and this still remains to be my biggest goal.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
I added some of the earnings from my business to the money I recently received from Give Directly and paid my rent for the month. I had always planned to be saving part of my transfers for the purposes of expanding my video game business, but sometimes it is a bit tough considering the expenses that were encountered over the month.
 
8th Payment
Transfer Amount
5000 KES ($48 USD)
access_time over 4 years ago
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How is your life different than it would have been if you never received the transfer?
Before Give Directly came, I used to be involved in manual construction jobs for my daily bread. This was mostly unreliable since one is not assured of working all days such that there were days you would just stay at home without any income. My life is now different that I earn income from running my own business courtesy of Give Directly. I can now comfortably meet my family's daily needs without worry.
Do you have any new or additional goals for your life?
My additional goal is to keep expanding my business by buying more games and equipment for use at the joint. This will hopefully improve the income I get from this business to allow me to venture into other kinds of income-generating projects.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
I run an entertainment business in my neighbourhood where I do video shows and computer-aided games. Most of my customers are the youth and when I got the recent transfers, I used Ksh 4500 to revamp the business by buying more gadgets and controllers. This is aimed at increasing the amount of income from this business. I used the rest of the transfer to cater for my household's basic needs such as food.
 
4th Payment
Transfer Amount
5000 KES ($50 USD)
access_time 5 years ago
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Do you have any new goals that you didn't have before receiving the transfer?
My goals now that I have started receiving the money is to open a branch of my play station in a different place within Mathare. I settled on this because it is something I know very well how to operate and it also earns a good amount of money. I will be saving money from this business and later use it to buy a motorcycle which I will give it to my friend to operate it. This will help me diversify my sources of income and be able to meet my needs on time. I will have also created a job opportunity for someone who is jobless and this will help reduce the rate of crime in our region.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life since you started receiving payments from GiveDirectly.
The biggest difference in my daily life since I started receiving payments from GiveDirectly is that I earn more money on a daily basis compared to what I used to get before. This has made me be able to meet all of my requirements and pay my bills on time. this has really made me so happy and was it not for GiveDirectly, all these changes would not have happened in my life.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
I work at a play station and when I received my most recent transfer, I decided to use them to buy some of the games I needed in my station. I settled on this because it is something I am more conversant with and it was on high demand since most people were asking for it. It also earns quite a good amount of money and I knew investing on it was worth it.
Describe the moment when you started receiving transfers. How did you feel?
My heart was filled with so much happiness the moment I started receiving my money. This was because I knew that receiving some money on a monthly basis meant an alternative source of income to me which I would invest in order to earn more. I also knew that through this money, my life would never be the same again as I would be able to use them also to cater for my needs and I am also always happy because of this program.
 
Enrolled
access_time over 5 years ago
 
What do you plan to do with the cash transfer?
My first priority is to save the money then invest that money in my existing business of a play station shop, then am hoping the business continues to grow so that I can buy a piece of land and build a house
Describe your biggest worry.
My top concern is unemployment because I always fear that if my work equipments get broken, spoilt or burnt since this is a fire rampant area then I will not have a job, secondly if am not employed or have a job that means most of my dreams and ambitions will not be met and that's very stressful since am still a young man. My last priority being able to meet my daily sustenance like buying food or paying for rent and its important to have a place to sleep and also have the basic needs so that's why am also concerned about not meeting my daily needs.
What are your greatest ambitions?
My ambition in life is to be a successful businessman, grow my PlayStation business as well as make sure I open more than two shops for the same business because that's my passion.
Describe your usual day. How do you spend your time?
On my usual day I go to my work place, where I own a small PlayStation/ gaming shop and run my business . On my free time I go out with friends to watch football matches or even play play station games.