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 ($468 USD)
access_time over 2 years ago
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How is your life different than it would have been if you never received the transfer?
I didn't have a house. The one I had was mud thatched with a 16 iron sheets roofed top. I, therefore, spent the first transfer to accomplish my goal of building two twenty-four iron sheets roofed houses. I managed to buy the iron sheets at Kes. 24000. Bought my mattress because I did not have any to sleep on. I also paid school fees for Kes. 7900 for my children.
For the second transfer, I paid contractors Kes. 16000 to build the two houses each at Kes. 8000. Bought some other basic needs in the house and saved Kes. 22000 to buy some 2/3/4 goats this coming market day. Thank you so much GiveDirectly. You have made my dream come true and put a smile on my face.
In your opinion, what does GiveDirectly do well, and what does it not do well?
Giving me the money has made me proud. It is the best thing that has ever happened to me. I managed to build my two houses. I do not see anything that GiveDirectly does bad. I am so happy about the program.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
For the second transfer, I paid contractors Kes. 16000 to build the two houses each at Kes. 8000. Bought two mattresses at Kes. 11000 for my children who did not have somewhere to sleep on. Bought food and other basic needs in the house. I also managed to save Kes. 22000 to buy some 2/3/4 goats this coming market day. Thank you so much GiveDirectly. You have made my dream come true and put a smile on my face.
Initial Payment
Transfer Amount
55000 KES ($491 USD)
access_time over 2 years ago
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Describe the moment when you received your money. How did you feel?
At around 9am when I was resting at home from fetching some water is when I got the transfer message from GiveDirectly. I jumped up and down in happiness knowing that some demanding issues that were giving me some headaches were going to be resolved.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life since you started receiving payments from GiveDirectly.
The fact that my children are retained in school and comfortably has brought peace and a big difference in my life. The second thing I can attest is having a separate house for my grown up children. This has restored the privacy which we have been lacking for quite a long time.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
Being a patent of 7 children who are in primary school, they were the first people I thought of because they have been on and off school due to school fees. In that regard, I took KES 6850.00 and paid for them so they could have smooth learning environment. Thereafter, looking at how small and collapsing my house was I decided to build a good and spacious house and also a small house for my children; thus I bought 42 pieces of iron sheets for KES 38640.00 and 70 poles for KES 6300.00. The little amount that remained, I bought some food for the family.
Enrolled
access_time over 2 years ago
What does receiving this money mean to you?
Receiving this money means a decent house and good education for my children. For the past 5 years, I have been living in a house that is weak together with my 7 children. Some parts of the house are falling. Living in a house that can fall at any given time is very risky.The house is also small to accommodate a family of 7 children. I am planning to use 40,000 KES to construct a new house. A house that will be of two bedrooms and a sitting room. Though the house will not be so big, we shall be comfortable in it. I will then buy 3 beds and 3 mattresses at a total cost of 30,000 KES. One of the beds will be mine and the other two will be for my children. The beds we current sleep on are very old. They are the traditional type of beds and we sleep on them without mattresses. I also have 5 children who are attending primary school. They all have total fee arrears of 7,000 KES. I will also use the money to clear the arrears.Having such a big family, it is a very big challenge to meet all the needs especially food. Burning charcoal is my main occupation. I earn approximately 5,000 KES per month. This amount is not even enough to buy food for the family for a period of one month. I am planning to use the remaining amount of money to buy foodstuffs for my family.
What is the happiest part of your day?
The happiest part of my day is in the evening. Enjoying the evening meal with my children as we talk about how the day was gives me so much joy.
What is the biggest hardship you've faced in your life?
The biggest hardship I have ever faced in life is lack of enough money to comfortably meet all the needs of my family. Working as a charcoal burner does not earn me enough money. The money I earn all goes into buying food. My house is falling but because I don't earn a sufficient income, I am incapable of renovating it.
