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
53010 KES ($360 USD)
access_time 7 months ago
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How is your life different than it would have been if you never received the transfer?
I am content with what I have achieved so far, but my ultimate goal is to save money for my children's school fees. To make this dream a reality, my wife and I plan to efficiently manage our resources and redirect the funds we used to purchase milk towards our savings for the future. We are immensely thankful for the financial support we have received.
In your opinion, what does GiveDirectly do well, and what does it not do well?
The opportunity to allocate the funds as per our needs without any restrictions caught my attention during the enrollment process. Additionally, the security information provided was valuable in safeguarding our funds from potential fraud. They conducted a comprehensive explanation of the program during our community meeting, outlining its workings. Since the enrollment process went smoothly, I didn't identify any shortcomings that required attention.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
After receiving our second transfer, my wife and I recognized the need for a dairy cow in our household. The high cost of purchasing milk daily, at $0.7 per liter, was a significant financial burden. The cow we had previously was still too young to provide milk, and it would have taken years for it to mature. Therefore, I invested $400 in acquiring a cow, a step that was previously financially out of reach for us. We rely on our farm for our livelihood, and our limited income was primarily spent on essential needs. We are blessed with five children. Additionally, I used $130 to complete the construction of our house, which had been left incomplete due to a lack of funds after the first transfer. I am now filled with joy and relief knowing that we have our own cow, which will help reduce our daily expenses significantly.
Initial Payment
Transfer Amount
55000 KES ($438 USD)
access_time 1 year ago
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Describe the moment when you received your money. How did you feel?
I felt so happy the moment I received money from GiveDirectly. That day I was in the farm working on my maize farm when I heard my phone ring. Upon checking the contents of the message, I confirmed that indeed GiveDirectly had made good their promise of sending us cash as earlier they promised. To me it had never dawned on me that I will surely receive the money. We later planned with my wife on how we were going to spend the money to reap maximum benefits from it.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life since you started receiving payments from GiveDirectly.
The biggest difference in my daily life is the clraity of vision and plans that I now have. For a long time, we had desired to build a new and better house for my family and we had even saved up to $200 from our farming practices. Our plans are now more clear having received a transfer from GiveDirectly. We are set to start buying building materials and construction of this new house shall start soon too. Putting up this house shall make me and my family happier than we currently are.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
When I received my first transfer of $5500, I withdrew just $150 that I sed to buy goats for keeping. I saved the remaining amount of $400 to be used in putting up a house for my family of 6. We have been living in one small grass thatched house and our plans to put up a new house have never materialized due to very little income and savings in the long run. We had made savings amounting to $200 by the time we received a transfer from GiveDirectly. We are so happy that this savings has amounted to $600 an amount that is enough to start the construction of the house. It will be one of my greatest achievements to see this house fully constructed.
Enrolled
access_time over 1 year ago
What do you plan to do with the cash transfer?
We have always wanted to build a decent house for living but due to financial inadequacy, it has not been possible. We have been sharing our small house with our four children. It cannot adequately accommodate all of us fully. Our children have grown and they need a good house that is spacious enough for them to study and for sleeping purposes too. It will also guarantee us privacy as opposed to the current situation where the room is squeezed and cannot afford us the privacy that is needed as parents. It is for this reason that we intend to build a permanent house, we will use the entire transfer towards the construction of the house. We are planning to raise other money from other sources for its construction because the transfers will not be enough to complete the construction.
What is the happiest part of your day?
Our daughter, Dorcas who is Ngocho primary school has registered tremendous improvement in her studies. When the school was closed recently she brought us a very impressive report card up from 146 marks the previous term to 315 marks this term.No amount of words can describe the joy we had. We had almost lost hope in her but her determination and resilience have finally yielded good results. She will join class 8 in January and we are certain that she will pass her Kenya Primary Education Certificate examination next year and get admitted to the best Secondary school.
What is the biggest hardship you've faced in your life?
Food insecurity is a major challenge that we are facing at the moment. We are peasant subsistence farmers but maize farming has not been doing well. we were hopeful of a good harvest but there was a prolonged dry season that affected our maize crops, they are in a poor state and we are not expecting a good harvest this season. The burden of purchasing the commodity from the market has and remains to be an uphill task. A 2kg of maize retails at $1.80 up from $0.70 which is hard to afford. We are people of little means who depend on casual jobs to fend for our families. The sad reality is that the cost of living has gone up and so the meager income we get is hardly enough to cater for our needs.
