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 ($501 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?
The greatest difference in my life is the help which I received from Give Directly and spend it to pay school fees for my children. On clearing their school fees, my children have ample time to study and probably attain good results. They haven't been sent home since then and thanks be to God and GiveDirectly.
In your opinion, what does GiveDirectly do well, and what does it not do well?
Give Directly did an amazing work in our village by giving equal amounts of cash to different households. The money which enabled us to improve our living standards. I can clearly say that the organization was not biased in any way.
What did you spend your second transfer on?
I spent part of my second transfer on buying dairy cows a total of KES 32000. The remaining KES 22000, I bought some clothes for my children and beddings. I opted to invest my transfers in livestock so that when the cow starts lactating I would sell the milk and generate income to support my family. The offsprings which I will have over time would enable me to accrue wealth.
Initial Payment
Transfer Amount
55000 KES ($547 USD)
access_time almost 5 years ago
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Describe the biggest difference in your daily life.
As a parent, I was really worried about the future of my children's education because they were always sent home for school fees. I had a huge school fees balance and when I received transfers from GiveDirectly, Clearing it was my first priority. I am glad that this is no longer the case as they now fully concentrate on their studies and I expect their performance to improve. I am also happy because the transfers enabled me to purchase some few sacks of maize to push us through for a while hence my entire family has enough food to eat and are now happier and healthier as compared to before
Describe the moment when you received your money. How did you feel?
It was one early one morning just as I was preparing to go do my usual activities when I received a message notification. Upon checking, I could not believe my eyes when realized that I had indeed received the money that GiveDirectly had promised to send us. I was so happy we celebrated with my family.
What did you spend your first transfer on?
I spent the money I received from Give Directly to clear school fees balance for my children because I had a huge balance amounting to Kes. 20000. My children's school uniforms were also worn out and so I also spent part of the transfer to purchase new school uniforms for them. I spent some amount to purchase trees in order to extract timber for the construction of a structure for my business. With the remaining amount, I decided to invest in livestock keeping and so I settled on sheep rearing because they are less demanding in terms of feeds and they multiply fast.
Enrolled
access_time almost 5 years ago
What does receiving this money mean to you?
I have three children in secondary school and one who is due to join college.I have been stressing over how my spouse and I will be able to pay their school fees at the beginning of next year till GiveDirectly came to enroll us.I am very happy.Receiving this money will enable me pay a part of the fees as well as buy a dairy cow.From sale of milk,I will be able to pay fee balances in instalments every month.
What is the happiest part of your day?
The happiest part of my day is morning till mid day.During this time,I go around the village farms selling porridge to people working in farms.Am happiest at this time because doing this job assures me that my family will have a small income at the end of the day which means that we will be able to buy food and meet all the other household needs.
What is the biggest hardship you've faced in your life?
The biggest hardship I have faced is paying school fees for my four children without a source of income.We have been struggling with this for some years now.My spouse and I are forced to seek casual farm jobs every day in order to get a little money.I have also started a small business of selling porridge in order to substitute this but it is never enough.Most of this goes to feeding and other basic needs hence sometimes the children are forced to stay home as we try to raise money.This in turn interrupts their studies hence affecting their grades.
