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 had been expecting the money to come at any moment since it was the last day of the period I had been promised by the field officer that I will be receiving my first transfer. When I heard a text message notification on my phone at 6 a.m, which is very uncommon for me, I knew it was the money so I got up to read the message and indeed it was. I could barely contain the excitement so I woke up my husband to share the good news after which we immediately woke to start planning. We started by writing a shopping list of the materials required to construct the house that we had planned to construct when we received the money so that we could buy them as soon as we could.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life since you started receiving payments from GiveDirectly.
Having a very spacious house of our own constructed using the transfer has brought a lot of happiness to my family and taken away the shame of living in a borrowed house. We were totally unable to raise enough money to purchase the required materials to construct a house of out own due to low income, so we requested one of my husband's brothers to let us live in his old house which he abandoned after constructing a better one. Having a roof over our heads was good, but it carried a lot of shame with it and we are very grateful to Give Directly for taking away the shame.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
We did not have a house of our own and lived in our brother-in-law's house so when we received the money, we used most of it to construct a new house so that we can have a place of our own. We spent some of the money on personal items such as clothes and shoes.
Enrolled
access_time over 4 years ago
What does receiving this money mean to you?
Receiving this money means financial independence to me. I plan to venture into poultry keeping project to enable me to support my spouse in providing for the family. This will cost me a total amount of $250 from building a poutry unit to buying chicken to start the project with. I also plan to build a more spacious two roomed iron roofed house which will cost a total of $350 of my transfer. I will also spend $250 to buy a dairy cow for milking and use the remaining part of my transfer to buy food and clothes for my family
What is the happiest part of your day?
My spouse who works as a security guard in the city often gets his daily wages in the evening. This is the time i am always happy since it is then that he sends me money to buy food for my family.
What is the biggest hardship you've faced in your life?
Due to unpredictable rainfall patterns in this region, prolonged droughts often lead to walking long distances in search of water for domestic use which is so tiresome and health risking,which is the biggest hardship we face.
