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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2nd Payment
Transfer Amount
53150 KES ($435 USD)
access_time over 1 year ago
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How is your life different than it would have been if you never received the transfer?
My immediate goal is to get my goats to reproduce and become as many as possible. I will be able to sell them for meat, sell their milk and also have some to enjoy with my wife at home.
In your opinion, what does GiveDirectly do well, and what does it not do well?
The fact that their funds come with no strings attached is to me the most amazing part of GiveDirectly. They transform lives, while asking for nothing in return, yet making dreams a reality for recipients. All I would ask is that they continue with their good work and consider adding more transfers to past recipients, at a later date.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
I quickly rushed to the market and got myself 6 female goats and 2 male. These are the first of my herd and I'm hoping they reproduce and grow it in multiples. I then set aside some funds to buy iron sheets and repair/update my roof, which was in need of attention. As a father of 5 grown kids, making a living from cutting wood and making charcoal,it's hard to have any income to put aside for saving, since we only sell the sacks for KES.300. While I work with my wife,we also till my 4 acre tract of land on which we grow maize, millet and beans. The maize we turn into maize meal for ourselves, while beans go for KES. 50 per kilogram which i sell. GiveDirectly truly changed the tide on the struggles we were facing as a household and we are indebted to them always.
Initial Payment
Transfer Amount
55000 KES ($474 USD)
access_time almost 2 years ago
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Describe the moment when you received your money. How did you feel?
On this day, when the funds from give directly were sent, I was still in the house. The message made me very joyous. I couldn't keep it to myself so I rushed to share the news with my wife. In our celebratory mood, the very first thing we decided to do was enhance our livestock farming business by adding 5 goats to the 12 that we had.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life since you started receiving payments from GiveDirectly.
Ever since I started receiving funds from give directly, my life has really improved. Before, with a monthly salary of KES 3,000 from my charcoal manufacturing business, I could not do much towards improving my financial status. Currently, this has all changed as I am in the process of owning a new house that will be more comfortable. The one I currently live in is a one-room palm tree leaves thatch house. while the new one is a two-room mud house with iron sheet roofs. We can also afford to put food on the table and most importantly, my wife and I are now a team, we are now living in harmony.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
I used the funds to add 5 goats to the 12 I had. This is so I could enhance my livestock farming business. I also utilized the funds to buy some logs to build a new house for my wife and I. The current one is a palm tree leaves thatched house. During the rainy season, it leaks a lot plus it's freezing inside. Thus, the decision to construct a mud house with an iron sheet roof. I've already started the construction and the only area remaining is the roof. To complete it, I need KES 15000 more. I cannot raise this from the KES 3000 monthly I get from my charcoal manufacturing business. I plan to complete it using my next.
Enrolled
access_time 2 years ago
What does receiving this money mean to you?
A grass thatched, mud walled house without windows neither a demarked door is the kind of a house I have been habilitating since I married about twenty years ago. Apart from the house being small, it leaks making it insecure during rains. I have five children with more than fifteen grandchildren who seldom pay a visit due to lack of accommodation. With the GiveDirectly transfers, I will be glad to erect a two bedroom iron roofed house which will cost approximately 80 000KES. Once am done with the house, I intend to buy three goats with an intension of selling them once they multiply and venture into cattle keeping.
What is the happiest part of your day?
Three weeks ago, I was visited by son-in-law. The surprising visit came at a time when I had no coin left in my house. As he was leaving, he handed over a 1000 KES note. It was indeed the most joyful day of my life.
What is the biggest hardship you've faced in your life?
I was employed in town as a gardener in one of the hotels. I lost the the job three years ago after the massive spread of Corona Pandemic. The only job I could do after coming back to the village was charcoal burning. In one of the dreadful days, I was hit on my ankle by a falling log. After a series of treatment, I was left with some difficulties in walking. Apart from my ill health condition, the 300 KES obtained from selling a sack of charcoal per day cannot cater for all the family basic needs. I have longed to keep cattle as an alternative source of income but financial challenges have constrained me.
