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.
Stages:
 
Enrollment
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Transfers
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Completed
Newsfeed > Sharon's Profile
Sharon's family
Sharon
landscapeCountry:
kenya
workOccupation:
Casual labor
faceAge:
31
workCampaign
Kenya Large Transfer
There will be no further updates from this completed recipient.
2nd Payment
Transfer Amount
53150 KES ($467 USD)
access_time 2 years ago
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How is your life different than it would have been if you never received the transfer?
Even though I don't have enough capital at the moment, I have a new goal to venture into a maize buying and selling business within the community. This will be cereal and grocery business running in the same shop as maize has been in high demand around. I am hoping that I will soon be able to raise my savings through crop and livestock farming that can enable me to buy from the nearby sub-counties and sell to the immediate neighborhood.
In your opinion, what does GiveDirectly do well, and what does it not do well?
In my opinion, the enrollment and the disbursement of both the first and the second transfer were perfectly done by Gievdirectly after educating us on all the security procedures that helped us in ensuring the safety of our money. Everything that we were promised was delivered at the end, making everyone happy and appreciative of every step that was taken by the office.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
After the complete construction of a new house with the second transfer, I still had to spend KES7500 from the second transfer to construct a new kitchen. I had a lot of materials left from the main house and had to buy a few materials that facilitated a complete construction of a new kitchen. I also spend KES 26500 on buying a dairy cow that is currently lactating. I am glad that the expense I have been meeting while buying milk from the neighborhood for my family of seven is no more. I can now sell the surplus as well to earn some income that can cover other household bills. We also invested KEs 7800 on opening a new barbershop currently operated by my husband. He has been wishing for this for a long time and since he had the required skills, we could not afford to miss this chance that has opened up another source of income for the household. I obtained a piece of new furniture worth KES 2900, foodstuff for my household worth KES 3500, paid KES 1750 tuition fees for my five primary school kids, and also clothing with the remaining amount.
 
Initial Payment
Transfer Amount
55000 KES ($499 USD)
access_time over 2 years ago
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Describe the moment when you received your money. How did you feel?
The moment I received the transfer I felt so happy. I remember it was 9am when I heard a ringtone message from my phone. I was just busy doing my morning chores. I didn't expected any messages from anyone, So I reluctantly check it, I couldn't believe my eyes, it was a message confirming that I have received KES 55,000 from GiveDirectly. I felt so happy because I have never received such amount of money before. I immediately inform my family and everyone was so happy too. I went to withdrew the money the same day and planned on purchasing building materials ready to build a better.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life since you started receiving payments from GiveDirectly.
The biggest difference in my daily life is that I have build a better house. I used to live in a small grass thatched house. This was so demoralizing because whenever I had visitors there was no extra space to host them. My children were sleeping at the neighbor's house because there was no space. This was so risky because they could walk during the night. When it was raining it was even the worst because they were being exposed to cold. I depend on small scale farming to survive. I do not have a continuous source of income. Currently my children have a good place to sleep. Whenever I have visitors they have a place go sleep too. I do not host them outside like before. I now have peace of mind to work on my farm and save to do other project. I am so happy because GiveDirectly has changed and improve our standard of living. It's much better now.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
I spent the money I received from GiveDirectly on building a better and spacious house for my family. We used to live in a small grass thatched house which could not host us comfortably. I paid school fees for my children in primary school and this enabled them to study well without being sent home. The rest of the money I bought food and clothes. I am so happy because GiveDirectly has changed our living standard.
 
Enrolled
access_time almost 3 years ago
 
What does receiving this money mean to you?
Now that we are living in a one grass touched house, I am dreaming of building a two roomed iron sheet house with $400, buy a cow worth $300 to enable me earn income through milk production and the remaining $300 I will spent on food, clothing's and school fees. My casual job pays about $2 a day which is not enough for us
What is the happiest part of your day?
Afternoon hours is my happiest part of the day, this is the time I have some money from my casual job, this makes me happy since I have something small to provide food for my family
What is the biggest hardship you've faced in your life?
Providing food family and paying fees for the children has been the biggest challenge for me now that we rely mostly on casual jobs giving us about $2 a day. This in not enough to sustain the family given that the cost of living has gone high