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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2nd Payment
Transfer Amount
53150 KES ($435 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?
I hope to start a grocery business by next year. I can also sell clothes on the side. Currently I'm doing a stone cutting job and it really leaves me very tired! I'm sure that the business will stabilize with time.
In your opinion, what does GiveDirectly do well, and what does it not do well?
Give Directly is really doing a good job by helping people unconditionally. You have uplifted me and right now my children can to school comfortably and we also have something to eat. I have bought livestock. May you continue with the same spirit. I don't think that there is anything you should improve on.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
I had always want to keep livestock. This is because they reproduce and you can sell them incase of an emergency. I used kshs 16,000 to buy a cow and kshs 15,000 to buy 3 goats. I'm sure they'll reproduce and I'll benefit from consuming and selling their milk. I bought 1 bale of maize flour, sugar, beans, cooking oil and vegetables (these were in frequent small portions, I can't tell their exact quantity) worth kshs 13,000. I used kshs 5,000 to pay school fees for my 3 primary school children. My house was at the verge of collapsing, so I bought 3 bags of cement @ kshs 750 and sand worth kshs 1,500. I paid kshs 2,000 for labour and I'm glad that my house was repaired.
Initial Payment
Transfer Amount
55000 KES ($471 USD)
access_time over 2 years ago
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Describe the moment when you received your money. How did you feel?
I had just gotten home from fetching water from my neighbor's home when I received a message. Since I'm illiterate and couldn't read the message on my own, I called my daughter who was in the house to come and check it. I couldn't believe it when she told me that I had received the transfer because I thought that we were going to receive the transfer towards the end of the month. I was so happy because I had lost my job and I was struggling to provide for my family.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life since you started receiving payments from GiveDirectly.
Ever since I lost my job, putting food on the table was a struggle and having one meal a day had become our new norm. Received this money has made it possible for us to have three meals a day and this is something that we are grateful for. I was also able to pay school fees arrears for my children and I'm happy that they are able to settle in school and this will help them recovery the time they lost out of school due to fees arrears.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
Raising my three children alone after loosing my husband has not been easy. I have been working as a house help to provide for my children and with KES 6000 salary that I was earning, I tried giving them the best that I could. Four months ago, I lost my job and I have been looking for casual jobs such as laundry and fetching water to put food on the table. This being a low income region, the jobs are seasonal and I would go for some days without job and my family would sometimes go the whole day without food. I was also not able to pay school fees for a while and accumulated huge fees arrears. I spend KES 18000 to offset fees arrears that had accumulated making it difficult for my children to stay in school and KES 3000 to buy them school uniform. I also spend KES 6000 to buy concrete blocks so that I can strengthen my house walls and KES 10500 to buy bed and mattress for my children who were previously sleeping on cartons. I have been spending the balance to buy food and other necessities as I look for job.
Enrolled
access_time over 2 years ago
What does receiving this money mean to you?
My firstborn daughter is in standard eight. I have big dreams for her. I work very hard at my casual jobs so that she and her two brothers can study up to the University level. I know the value of education and how far it can push someone in this competitive world. I will use this money to pay for their school fees, buy uniforms and save an amount of KES 50,000 in preparation for secondary school entry fees for the eldest one. I will keep working so that I can be able to feed them with what I make as I use GD transfers to focus on their education.
What is the happiest part of your day?
Ever since my husband passed away, all I have known is pain. I have been so drained emotionally that nothing made sense, not even my own life. Lately, I have been trying very hard to pull myself out of this dark pit slowly by slowly. I can say that I have made strides. I feel lighter now, I can smile and find joy in my children. I believe that God will heal my heart and one day, I shall accept that my husband is no more and start to live my life without a heavy heart.
What is the biggest hardship you've faced in your life?
As a widow, the constant reminder of I bear the burden of my children alone sometimes makes my heart sink. My husband passed on in the year 2018. The past five years have been a mixture of struggles, dark days, pain, and uncertainty. I miss him a lot. He used to ensure that he provided the basic needs. I now have to pull double the weight. I work as a house help, not permanently employed and this destabilises me. I can go a long time without work yet my children are looking up to me for provision.
