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
53150 KES ($442 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?
I have a new goal of completing the house that I built with the money that I received from GiveDirectly. The money came at a time I was living in a rented house and in where I ran a tailoring business in it. It was very expensive paying for the house monthly yet there was general decline in profits made since the onset of COVID 19 pandemic. When I received my transfers I started building my own house after buying a piece of land. I ran short of the money before I could bring the house to completion and it is for this reason that I now have a goal of finishing up with it. I intent to save up enough money from my tailoring work to be able to accomplish this. The business is currently not so good but at least I have relocated to this new house and hence I no longer pay rent. This money will be saved to ensure that we have the house brought to completion.
In your opinion, what does GiveDirectly do well, and what does it not do well?
In my opinion GiveDirectly did very well by enrolling all of us without any form of biasness. I have been able to buy a piece of land and built a new house and I do not take this for granted.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
I used all of my second transfer to build a new house. The money came at a time when I was pondering on where to get money to build a better house. I was living in a very small rented house that was also quite expensive for me. In as much as ai was running a tailoring business here, I was straining a lot as from the year 2020 when COVID struck. When I received money from GiveDirectly then I made a conscious decision to build a new house that is almost coming to competion. I feel so much happy and lucky to have been enrolled in this program.I am looking forward to having the house completed.
Initial Payment
Transfer Amount
55000 KES ($495 USD)
access_time over 2 years ago
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Describe the moment when you received your money. How did you feel?
I live in a place with poor network coverage and as I was going on with my daily household chores, one of my neighbors came and inquired if I had received my transfer as she had already received hers. It was at this time that I went outside to look for a place with a good network and upon restarting my phone, I received a Mpesa message indicating that the transfer from GiveDirectly had been deposited into my account. I became so happy on seeing this and I started singing praises to God and GiveDirectly as I knew that my plan of buying a piece of land would soon be realized.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life since you started receiving payments from GiveDirectly.
I used to live in a small portion of land where I was able to build a house and left the remaining area as my compound. Because of this, I had to buy everything including vegetables and since I could not rear the only cow that I have, I had to request my friend help me with it so that she would get milk in return. I am so happy at the moment since I have a place where I can plant some vegetables and I have already laid down the plans of returning my cow so that I can rear it on my own. I am so grateful to Givediretly for making my dream of expanding my piece of land come true.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
My desire had been to purchase a piece of land since the one I have is small and one cannot do any farming activity or rear livestock in it. Because of this, I spent my transfer to buy two points of land at KES 60000 after topping up KES 5000. I am glad that I can now plant some vegetables and onions for our consumption at one point and set aside the other point to be my cows feeding area.
Enrolled
access_time over 2 years ago
What does receiving this money mean to you?
I have always wanted to buy a cow but due to constrained resources, that has never materialized. I own a shop which earn me a profit of Ksh 50 daily which I spend to buy food and not even a shilling is left to actualize my dream. That means I have nothing to save. I plan to buy a quality Friesian cow worth 35000 shillings. Out of it, I will get 5-7 liters a day which I will sell to locals at 50 shillings a liter. This will give me 250-300 shillings profits every single day hence making me financially independent.
What is the happiest part of your day?
I find happiness in my mornings. This is so because I get so many customers coming to my shop at this time than any other time of the day.
What is the biggest hardship you've faced in your life?
In 2019, I fell serious sick in the middle of the night to a point I almost lost my life. I was alone in the house and no one could get me help. I suffered a heavy chest that blocked my breathing system and I was gasping for breath. Because I own a shop, there was a customer who came to buy some items only to hear someone breathing so heavily. He came right inside through the back door which was not closed and found me on the floor. He took me to the hospital where I got assisted. I spent ksh 5000 on treatment and I was back to full recovery. I thank God that help came in handy.
