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.
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Initial Payment
Transfer Amount
55000 KES ($544 USD)
access_time 4 years ago
attach_money
Describe the moment when you received your money. How did you feel?
I was already preparing my children to go to school as always when I received a message. Upon checking, it was a message notifying me that I had received the transfer from GiveDirectly. I got so happy and excited and immediately told my daughter who had been sent home for unpaid school fees to get ready to back to school my children too were happy!
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life since you started receiving payments from GiveDirectly.
The biggest difference in my daily life is that my children are now in school having paid all their school fees. It was always depressing me as a parent seeing my children sent from school because I had not paid their school fees. This situation worsened when most of my funds went into the hospital bills. I am also glad that my children now eat well now that I can buy enough food. These transfers came in time when I was recovering from a small accident I was involved in. Therefore, I could not work and provide enough food. I am also happy that I will soon move and live in a new iron roofed house that I am almost done building.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
I spent the transfer to buy building materials for my house. I previously lived in a grass thatched house which was old and getting deteriorated each passing day. I had already planned to build a new one but this was not to be after I got sick and most funds went into payment of hospital bills. I also paid my children's school fees and also bought them some clothes both for school and home ware.
Enrolled
access_time over 4 years ago
What does receiving this money mean to you?
I intend to use part of my first transfer of $200 to build a house for my family. The current house that I reside on is not spacious enough to accommodate my family. My kids who are still schooling do not have their private room to sleep and study after school. I will also use the remaining balance of $350 to clear the fee arrears of my three kids who are still in school. Additionally, I intend to use my second transfer to expand my small scale business of selling vegetables and use the remaining amount from second transfer of $250 to buy a cattle.
What is the happiest part of your day?
After I am done with preparing my kids to go to school, I milk my cattle and chop some feeds for them. I then go to my farm, harvest some farm produce and take them to the nearby market for sale. I always feel happy when my proceeds for the day is adequate enough to cater for my daily savings, foodstuffs for my family and supplements for my cattle feeds.
What is the biggest hardship you've faced in your life?
Few months ago, I got involved in an motorcycle accident as I was carrying vegetables from my farm into the nearby market center for sale. The outcome of the accident was a fracture on my left foot and I had to be taken to the hospital for bone surgery which was very costly. Currently, I am still recuperating at home with no ability to do any work. My small business is suffering and I mostly rely on my immediate neighbours to help me with household chores. I hope that one day I will be free from this and return back to normalcy.
