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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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Enrollment
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Transfers
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Completed
Newsfeed > Mercy's Profile
Mercy's family
Mercy
landscapeCountry:
kenya
workOccupation:
Casual labor
faceAge:
22
workCampaign
Kenya Large Transfer
There will be no further updates from this completed recipient.
2nd Payment
Transfer Amount
53150 KES ($438 USD)
access_time over 1 year ago
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How is your life different than it would have been if you never received the transfer?
My dream would be to start a business that would help me to boost my finances and also to build a kitchen house. I don't have cash at hand at the moment, but I am trusting God for an intervention and a way out. Above all, I am grateful for the ones that I have been able to achieve so far.
In your opinion, what does GiveDirectly do well, and what does it not do well?
The support from GiveDirectly uplifted our lives to a greater milestone. Receiving unconditional and non-refundable money from the organisation was a gesture that many of us will live to remember. We are among the lucky few communities that have been empowered, thus we are indebted to the organization. In my opinion, the organization does fantastic work, hence I did not identify any areas that needed to be corrected.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
Receiving financial aid from GiveDirectly has been of great impact on our lives. I never thought that I would have achieved a lot within a short period because of our financial status. I am a consistent farmer and my husband works as a shepherd. Together, we have a child. When I received my transfer, I thought of purchasing a dairy cow to reduce the cost of buying milk daily, which was extremely expensive because of our little income. Therefore, my husband and I bought two dairy cows worth $340. Additionally, I bought a table and a seat worth $51. Finally, I stocked enough foodstuffs in the house. Words can not express the immense gratitude that I have for receiving the transfer. My life has changed amazingly, hence I am grateful to God and the organization.
 
Initial Payment
Transfer Amount
55000 KES ($463 USD)
access_time almost 2 years 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. I was at home when I received the money and it was around 8:15 pm. I shared the good news with my husband who equally felt very happy and grateful to have received the money. We were so elated that we were finally going to be able to accomplish things that we had only wished we could in the past. The good thing was that we already had plans in place and it was quite easy to execute the plans.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life since you started receiving payments from GiveDirectly.
The biggest difference in my daily life is the poverty reduction in my household. The money came to save us from the yoke of poverty that we were in. We had no one to run to to help us since we lost our parents and we just had ourselves to take care of each other. I feel so much relieved having bought a dairy cow and goats to keep and this has made my family very happy. With these and the much more that we are going to do with the second transfer, we look forward to making our lives better.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
We used KES 40000 to buy a dairy cow and goats and we used the remaining amount of money to buy furniture and other basic household needs for our family. We made a decision to buy a dairy cow since we did not have one and we had already felt the heat of having to use a lot of money to purchase milk. We thought investing in livestock too would be a wise idea since a part from providing milk, they woukd multiply and enable us as a family to meet any emergency needs in future. I am a small scale farmer while my husband works as a herdsman for a certain farmer and it is for this reason that we had been unable to accomplish the things we did. The income that we get is barely enough to buy food and clothes for our child. We had fought tooth and nail and we're able to build a better house.
 
Enrolled
access_time almost 2 years ago
 
What does receiving this money mean to you?
We are living on a small piece of land that we inherited from our parents. This limits my ability of venturing into agriculture. My dreams of buying a piece of land has been in limbo due to financial challenges. I am employed casually as a herder which earns me KES 4,000 monthly and all of this income goes to food and other family basic needs. This money rejuvenates my dream of owning land, I will use KES 90,000 to buy 0.2 acres of land. To enable me produce milk for my family in the future, I will use the remaining money to buy a calf. With this money I will have settled my dream and this will make me happy.
What is the happiest part of your day?
My cow calved in January, this was a big relief for me now that I was spending a lot on buying milk for my year old son. This made me feel so happy.
What is the biggest hardship you've faced in your life?
Maize rust posted a big challenge on maize production in our region. This affected food basket making food sell at an exorbitant prices. This raises our cost of living making our life expensive stressful. As a result of this, my monthly income of KES 4,000 is a water drop in the ocean compared to family expenditure.