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.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life.
Having this livestock is the biggest difference in my daily life. I only had a few goats before GiveDirectly came into my life. When I received this transfer, I bought more goats and also a cow to add to my cowshed. My expectation is that they will reproduce and increase in number. I will be selling them in future to generate income. This means my children will never be sent home due to lack of school fees.
Describe the moment when you received your money. How did you feel?
My morning was brightened by the transfer notification I received from GiveDirectly. I could not believe at first that I had KES 55000 on my phone. I took us time before we could finally sit down with my husband and plan how we could invest these transfers. We finally settled on buying livestock. The livestock will give birth and by the time our children will have grown and started school we will be selling the young ones. This will help us in financing our children's education.
What did you spend your first transfer on?
I spent the larger part of this transfer on purchasing livestock which includes a heifer at KES 14000 and nine goats at KES 31500. Before the coming of GiveDirectly, I was already rearing goats in my homestead and I am grateful for having increased their number through the GD money. Having these animals is the biggest investment because I know that they are likely to reproduce in the near future, thus educating my children, who are still young now, won't be difficult to me because I will have acquired livestock including their young ones. I will be selling them and use the money to pay their school fees. In addition to this, I also bought two mattresses, one for myself and for my children. I was also able to easily meet most of the basic needs for my family and other household expenses.
Enrolled
access_time over 5 years ago
What does receiving this money mean to you?
Receiving this money means a food secure home for me and my family. I plan to buy new tools for my husband's mining business because the current ones are old and weak thus really slowing down his work. This will help us get more income that can be used to purchase food and other essential things. I also plan on buying indigenous dairy cows whose milk I can sell to my neighbors and thus make extra income to meet our family needs.
What is the happiest part of your day?
My husband mines stones used for construction of buildings. The happiest part of my day is in the evening when he comes home from work. Serving and taking care of him then gives me so much pleasure knowing the type of struggle he endures just to put food on our table.
What is the biggest hardship you've faced in your life?
Almost three quarters of the income my husband gets from his mining business goes towards food and the rest to educational needs such as fees, school uniform and books. Aside from that, the income is not reliable because it can take up to two months to get a buyer and the highest amount he has ever received is 2500 shillings. Lack of rainfall in the area has made things worse because we did not harvest any crop last season and we therefore have to dig deep into our pockets to buy food from shops which is quite costly.
