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 had taken my phone to charge at my neighbor's house. When I picked it up later that evening and unlocked it, I saw a receipt of $200 from GiveDirectly. I was so happy that GiveDirectly fulfilled its promise. I immediately told my husband when he came home that evening from fishing. He was so happy too. The first thing that came to our minds was boosting my husband's fishing business, which we had yearned for a very long time.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life since you started receiving payments from GiveDirectly.
My husband used to do his fishing operations using five old and worn-out fishing nets, earning a maximum of $15 a day. But after receiving our first GiveDirectly transfer, we invested in ten new fishing nets, which has turned around my husband's business, earning him $30 right now in a day. This increase in income has enabled him to add five more fishing nets. He is now in a position to comfortably provide for us with his daily income, especially since he is the sole provider now that I stopped working since I gave birth.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
Earlier this year, following the arrival of my daughter, I had to pause my vegetable trading business, which typically brought in $15-$30 daily. Since then, my family of seven leaned solely on my husband who is a fisherman for sustenance. In order to enhance his business, we invested $90 from our first transfer in acquiring ten new fishing nets, replacing his worn-out ones. The expansion paid off swiftly, as his daily earnings increased from $15 to $30. Additionally, we allocated $72 to prepare our farm for maize cultivation, battling persistent weeds brought by heavy rains with herbicides. With the remaining $20, we procured essential food supplies. Thank you, GiveDirectly, for your support.
Enrolled
access_time 7 months ago
What do you plan to do with the cash transfer?
Being a farmer in a drought prone area, I intend to buy a water pump to assist me in irrigating my land. This will cost us $450 including piping costs. By doing this, I will be able to irrigate my crops with ease and even grow crops that are very sensitive to drought. I also plan to revive my husband's fishing job by purchasing fishing nets so that he can be able to capture on large scale and sale them at higher profit margin. This will mean that all of us will be actively contributing in our family's livelihood sustainability.
What is the happiest part of your day?
Usually we harvest 3-4 bags of maize in our nearby farm but recently, we got 6 bags which served as fruit of our labour. With climatic challenges experienced prior to harvest, we never anticipated such an amount. As a result, we are very happy as my family will be food secure for a couple of months to come.
What is the biggest hardship you've faced in your life?
I am currently a farmer growing crops on a two acre leased land in close proximity to Lake Baringo. Our area being classified under arid and semi-arid lands means drought is a regular phenomenon. Because of this, I do not do carryout rain-fed agriculture but rather irrigation farming. With inadequate capital to buy a water pump, I mostly borrow from fellow farmers own one. But because of competition, I sometimes fail to get one and during those times, I am forced to manually water the crops. This is a tiresome exercise and I am hoping that one day, I can own one.
