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 ($421 USD)
access_time almost 2 years ago
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How is your life different than it would have been if you never received the transfer?
My goal this year was to save towards starting poultry farming. I want to save income that I get from selling milk towards this project. Achieving this means increase in income and thus quality education for my children.
In your opinion, what does GiveDirectly do well, and what does it not do well?
I liked every bit of the process from enrollment to receiving the money. I loved how the field officers treated us with respect and dignity. May you continue helping people and treating them well.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
I am a small scale dairy farmer while my husband is a primary school teacher. Before I was enrolled in the program, life was not easy as I used to cut napier grass with machete. Most of the feeds used to go on waste because, it required a lot of work and energy to cut the grass in to small consumables pieces which the cows could easy eat and I couldn't do this all by myself. Although my husband was working, he was not permanently employed by the government and his salary was very low. Therefore, he couldn't afford to buy napier grass machine cutter and he had responsibilities of paying school fees for our two children and I had responsibilities of providing the family with basic needs from the money that earn from selling milk. I spend spend $400 of my second transfer to buy napier grass machine cutter, $80 to buy household utensils and the balance to buy food for the family. Life has become much easier now and being a dairy farmer has become much fun.
Initial Payment
Transfer Amount
55000 KES ($467 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 my transfer, it was 6 pm when I was busy preparing dinner for my family. Then suddenly, I heard my phone ringing, Upon checking I saw a message notification showing that I had received money from GiveDirectly. This was the best news that I had received that evening. I was so excited and happy because I knew that I would be able to execute the plans that I had initiated earlier. I then broke the good news to my husband then later embarked on planning.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life since you started receiving payments from GiveDirectly.
The biggest difference in our daily life today is that we can comfortably store most of the cattle feed for future use. This is a big win for us since we will be saving a lot of money. During the drought season, we normally buy feeds at a very high cost. I am so happy that finally, I was able to realise this dream in a short period.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
We are passionate about dairy farming, though the area that we are in is a semi-arid place. During the rainy season, we normally have more than enough cattle feeds for our cows. My husband and I agreed on building a decent storage house so that we would be preserving cattle feeds for future use instead of wasting them. Thus we used KES 45,000 in realising the goal. My husband is a teacher and I am a housewife and together we are blessed with one child. We were unable to construct the storage house before due to financial constraints since we all depend on my husband's salary to in meeting all our needs. We are grateful for the support that has empowered us by uplifting our living standards.
Enrolled
access_time over 2 years ago
What does receiving this money mean to you?
Our area is fairly dry, such that getting animals ( cow) feed can be a challenge, especially during dry seasons. We have been planning to construct a big store to be storing cows' feed so that we do not run out of it at any point throughout the year. We plan to use approximately KES 60,000 to do this. Our farm is also small,( half an acre)so keeping a productive dairy cow is the main economic activity one can do. For the rest of the amount, we will purchase another dairy cow to add to the one we already have.
What is the happiest part of your day?
In our village, we have merry-go-round self-help groups. Four months ago it was my turn, I received KES 30,000 which we used to cement and put files in our house. It made us happy because it would have taken us a long time to save such an amount. My house looks so good as at now.
What is the biggest hardship you've faced in your life?
The main challenge is that we have a small piece of land. With this half an acre piece, we have our homestead compound, a small vegetable garden, and a piece where we farm animal feed like happier grass. It cannot allow us to do commercial farming hence we are forced to purchase some the food items like vegetables and maize. This is quite costly considering, my husband is the only sole provider.
