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?
That evening I was in the kitchen in the company of my husband and our last born son. At around 6 pm while busy cooking dinner that's when my neighbor came informing me of the arrival of transfers. I immediately gave the phone to my son who is also my helper. He checked and confirmed that I had received KES 55,000 from GiveDirectly. All of us were very excited and overwhelmed by the good news. As a result, we opted for tea instead of eating the ready dinner. Very early on the following day is when I withdrew the money.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life since you started receiving payments from GiveDirectly.
The biggest difference is the availability of adequate food for my family. This has helped reduce household expenditures because now I buy milk only.
I am also grateful because of the sofa set seater I bought. This is more comfortable as compared to the previous bench and armchairs I had.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
A few years ago, I had many dairy cows but over the years they reduced as a result of dowry payment. And the remaining one I had died about a year ago and left a heifer. Therefore, when I received my first transfer
I spent KES 28,000 on a heifer which will be due in the next 6 months. This will be a source of milk for my family once it reproduces.
Additionally, I spent KES 8000 on two bags of maize. This is because we normally rely on sweet potato farming for food.
Furthermore, I bought KES 7,500 on the latest clothing fashion for my whole family. My clothes were KES 2000, my husbands were KES 3,000, and my son's clothes were KES 2500.
Lastly, I bought KES 2,500 on three sofa set seater. This is because before I had one bench one regular armchair and three reed arm chairs. I also spent KES 5000 on house construction trees, in preparation to build a better Iron roofed house.
Enrolled
access_time almost 3 years ago
What does receiving this money mean to you?
Receiving this money means that I will be able to have clean water for my family and a better house. We would like to build an iron sheet roofed house for KES. 60,000 and buy a 7000 liter water tank for KES. 45,000. The water we are currently using have costed us a lot because we were both diagnosed with typhoid fever in the past year, we spent KES. 12,000 seeking treatment. That was so costly, I had to sell my only cow to raise the money. It is also a pleasure because for the first time in our lives we will get a chance to live in a iron sheet roofed house. This house we are currently living in serves as the kitchen, bedroom and also the living area. Sometimes the smoke is from the kitchen too much and it is not good for our eyes as we are old. We therefore sincerely thank GiveDirectly for this help.
What is the happiest part of your day?
I am so happy because, despite the challenges that we go through, we have had consistent rainfall for the past 3 months. This gives a hope of good harvest from our farm in the next 2 months.
What is the biggest hardship you've faced in your life?
The current challenges include inadequate housing and the bad health condition that we are going through with my husband. The typhoid fever we got last year made it even worse. We struggle so much when our health deteriorates because we depend on our children to give us remittance which doesn't always happen.
