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?
I was just relaxing at home when I heard a message notification from my phone. My daughter-in-law was at home at that particular time. I informed her to check out who could have texted me at that time. It was around 7 pm we had just taken our supper. When she checked it out she said that it was a message confirming that GiveDirectly has sent the money they had promised. I felt so happy because I have never received such an amount of money before. My main concern was to pay all the debt that my spouse had borrowed because this was giving us sleepless nights. The following day my son went to withdraw the money and we started planning on how to spend it. I felt so happy because GiveDirectly has fulfilled our dream.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life since you started receiving payments from GiveDirectly.
The biggest difference in my daily life is that I have cleared all the debt that my spouse had borrowed. It was KES 30,000 this was money borrowed from different people. This was the main concern since those people wanted to be paid back. We had no other source of income apart from the small-scale farming and daily keeping project. The milk that we would get was small and it was only for the family. we had no surplus to sell to earn some income. This was giving us sleepless nights since there was nowhere to get the money. When I received the transfer from GiveDirectly I was so happy because this was the only opportunity to pay all the debt. Currently, the debt is cleared and I have peace of mind unlike before. I conduct my daily duties at home without being stressed. I am so grateful because were it not GiveDirectly all this could have taken quite some time.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
I spent KES 30,000 on repaying all the debt my spouse had borrowed. This is because we had been requested to pay but we had no money. This was giving us sleepless nights. We had no other source of income. We depend on small-scale farming and dairy keeping. The money that we would get from these two sources was so small and I was not in a position to pay the debt. I was so stressed up and very demoralized as well. I spent part of the money on purchasing building materials to complete the construction of the house that I had started receiving the money for. Part of the money was on paying hospital bills for my grandchild who was admitted to Litein hospital. The remaining amount of money I spent on food and Household items that we were lacking. I am so grateful because GiveDirectly has changed our living.
Enrolled
access_time over 2 years ago
What does receiving this money mean to you?
I am an elderly widow and I have been engaging in farming as my main economic activity since my youthful age. Unfortunately, for the past 7 years farming has been a non-profitable enterprise due to the effect of prolonged drought , pest and disease invasion.This has subjected us to a higher dependence on purchased foods yet I have limited source of income.Currently, I have been engaging in casual jobs within the village and this warns me an approximate amount of KES 200 daily. Receiving this money, therefore, means the purchase of a dairy cow and
What is the happiest part of your day?
The peace and consolation I get from the word of God from the time I got saved has brought joy into my life.I received salvation in the year 2017 after a long period of depression and lost hope of life.The stress began when I realized that I was infected by HIV and my husband immediately passed on .Despite all this I have lived a happy and joyful life while taking ARVS with no fear.
What is the biggest hardship you've faced in your life?
For the past 6 years farming which is the main economic activity in this area has been unprofitable and unsustainable to us. This has subjected us to prolonged period of hunger and inadequacy of household needs.As a result my life has been stressful since aside from the food insufficiency I am faced with numerous debts amounting to KES 40000 which accrued as a result of medication for my late husband.This lack of finances has truly inhibited my progress on life.
