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 moment when you received your money. How did you feel?
Whole preparing breakfast at around 9am, I heard the message tone from my phone an asked my son to check for me since I do not know how to read. While checking he smiled and looked at me with a bright face and said, you have received the transfer of KES 55000.00 from GiveDirectly. I was filled with joy, I felt like some cold water has been poured on me at a time when I was sweating.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life since you started receiving payments from GiveDirectly.
Before the transfer, the one who I bought the piece of land from was harassing me for his remaining money and I had no means of settling that. When I received the transfer that was already in my plans to settle him so that I live in peace and I did so. I am now living in peace with everyone and I am comfortable knowing that no one can harass me since I settled all the debts.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
After withdrawing the money, I bought some iron sheets for KES 9800.00 so that I could construct a house for my son. Sleeping in the same house with my son was not giving peace of mind since we lacked privacy. I also bought a cow for KES 9500.00, a mattress for KES 4500.00, a small solar panel for KES 3000.00 to provide light and cut the paraffin cost we were incurring. Having done that, I also paid KES 2260.00 school fees for my primary school children and I also bought them some school uniform for KES. 2000.00. After settling those, I paid the final payment of a one acre piece of land that I bought and the balance was KES 10000.00.
Enrolled
access_time over 3 years ago
What does receiving this money mean to you?
Receiving this money means owning my own land and home. I have small business of selling fish at the road side whose daily profit is 150 Kenya Shillings,. This is not sufficient to feed my family given that I am a single mother of 5 children. I have a small house here at my parent's home but my ambition is to get my own piece of land for cultivation and also my children to inherit in the future. I plan to use 45000 Kenya shillings to purchase 1 acre of land , 15000 to clear school fees of the whole year for my children and the rest of the money to buy cows for milk production for both for sale and personal use.
What is the happiest part of your day?
The happiest part of my day is in the evening when I get back home from work. Returning home with some income knowing that I shall afford to buy food for my children, makes me happy since I am the sole bread winner.
What is the biggest hardship you've faced in your life?
The biggest hardship I have faced in life is lack of finances to pay school fees for my children and having my own home. I am a single mother with nothing to depend on, I got married at a very young age but unfortunately the marriage did not work and we had to separate and I came back to my parents home with 5 children. The business that I do gives me as little as 150 kenya Shillings a day which is not enough to cater for food and paying school fees for my children. Hence the difficulty to save money to purchase land.
