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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There will be no further updates from this completed recipient.
2nd Payment
Transfer Amount
53150 KES ($508 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 dream of finally living in a semi-permanent house is finally coming to fruition. I mostly depend on casual and manual jobs to meet my household's daily needs and for my children's school fees. Balancing all these using the little I get is quite tough and when I received the transfers from GiveDirectly, there was some relief as I was able to pay the school fees and still managed to make my dream come true. I am so glad that I no longer overwork myself doing casual and menial jobs and can concentrate on my own farm now. I am excited also that I will soon be moving into the new house that I build. I am forever indebted to GiveDirectly.
In your opinion, what does GiveDirectly do well, and what does it not do well?
In my opinion, I loved that we were given enough teachings on how to use and what not to use the transfers. We were also taught how to secure our transfers before we received the transfers. Everything, in my opinion, was well done.
What did you spend your second transfer on?
I build a new house using the second transfer received from GiveDirectly. I have been living in a mud-walled house for a long time. Such a house requires regular maintenance especially during the rainy seasons and this involves and this is quite laborsome. This has has been made worse now by the unavailability of the special mud that is used to maintain the house and has forced us to go long distances in search of it. This is is a waste of useful time that would have been used in other productive activities. This is where the idea of building a semi-permanent house came. I used some of the transfer to pay for my child's school fees.
Initial Payment
Transfer Amount
55000 KES ($540 USD)
access_time almost 5 years ago
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The recipient was not asked any questions as part of this follow up.
Enrolled
access_time 5 years ago
What does receiving this money mean to you?
I have been struggling to pay fees for three of my children;two are in secondary school and one in a tertiary institution.Being a widow,this has most often overwhelmed me hence I have alot of outstanding fees arrears.Receiving this money will enable me clear these arrears.I also intend to buy a cow for sh 25,000(250 usd) to add to the one I have.This will assure me of an income through milk sale.This, am sure will exhaust my first transfer.From my second transfer,I will build a good poultry house and buy chicken for rearing.The little income from this will cater for the daily needs in my household.
What is the happiest part of your day?
My day starts with daily household chores i.e cleaning around the homestead before proceeding to the farm.In my farm,I mostly plant maize and beans;maize for consumption and beans to substitute school fees.It is during this time in the farm that am happiest because through this work,two of my children have completed basic education and the other three are in the process.The hardwork I have put into providing for my family alone through farming makes this the happiest part of my day.
What is the biggest hardship you've faced in your life?
When my spouse passed on,my eldest child was still in primary school and so were the rest.Since then,educating them has been a struggle to handle alone.I had to sell the only cow he had bought before he died so that I could start off their secondary fees.It has been very difficult because all the needs that my children have day in day out all depend on me,not to mention school fees!Upto now,there are three of them still in school and my constant worry has been that I may not be able to educate them due to lack of school fees.This is mainly because I fully depend on farming which is sometimes very unreliable.This is the biggest hardship I have faced.
