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 received a message from GiveDirectly early in the morning that brought a lot of excitement after reading and confirming the source. I was with my family at that moment and had to inform them. Everyone was equally excited and had to plan to withdraw later in the day.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life since you started receiving payments from GiveDirectly.
The biggest difference in my daily life is the clearance of the school fees for my children. I had been struggling a lot with the casual labor and the construction work that has not been consistent. This was unreliable and receiving the money and clearing the fees was a relief to me and has given me a chance to focus on other projects that can be helpful in the future.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
On receiving the first transfer, my household had made a rational decision to spend part of it on a dairy cow and to offset the debts we had at the school where our children attend. I was grateful that in the second week after collecting the amount from the immediate shopping center; I settled on purchasing a dairy cow at KES 35000. We had been having one, but we needed another one to boost the milk production that has been helpful for our household use and the surplus as an income-generating source to feed my family of six. I also spent the remaining amount on clearing the KES 20000 tuition fees for my four children. They are happier that they are not being sent home at the moment but enjoying ample study time.
Enrolled
access_time over 2 years ago
What does receiving this money mean to you?
Receiving this money means a better livelihood for me and my family. We are a family of six, with four children all in primary school. We depend on our one cow for milk, but we often run short because of short lactating periods and insufficient feeds to improve milk production. The milk the cow produces mainly goes to domestic subsistent use.T This means for some time in a year, we are forced to purchase milk from the market, which is very costly(KES 3,000 a month)considering we are casual laborers. We earn KES 300 per day which mainly goes to meeting basic needs like food. We plan to use KES 35,000 to buy a dairy cow that will give us more milk so we can stop buying from outside. We can divert that money for other family needs. For the rest of the amount, we will use it to cater to all school needs for our children as they open school.
What is the happiest part of your day?
Two months ago, we harvested four bags of maize from our small piece of farm. It was the biggest harvest in over five years that we have experienced very low output due to crop disease and unfavorable weather conditions. It really makes us happy as we have stopped buying maize from the market. The money that would have otherwise gone to this has been diverted to meet other needs. We are feeling a bit relieved.
What is the biggest hardship you've faced in your life?
The biggest challenge is insufficient finances. We both depend on casual jobs to earn a living. These jobs are unreliable and sometimes we can go unpaid for a long time. This makes it hard to meet daily needs like food.
