GiveDirectly: Send money directly to the extreme poor

2nd Payment

Transfer Amount

53150 KES ($521 USD)

over 4 years ago

How is your life different than it would have been if you never received the transfer?

Before GD came for enrollment, My souse operated tuktuk business for one of his neighbor's. The main challenge was when there was little work he would end up not getting anything after giving his my employer the daily amount he signed to issue . That means he had to do extra hours in order to provide for us since he is the bread winner . Therefore ,he always had no time to bond with my children since he would go to work very early when they were asleep and at times came back in the evening when they had retired to bed. Owning our tuktuk has enabled him to have enough time with the children . At the same time this business has also increased our daily income . I am hopeful the with the interests he make he would be able to save and pay the loan that has remained since we bought the tuktuk on credit after depositing the first installment with GiveDirectly's transfers .

In your opinion, what does GiveDirectly do well, and what does it not do well?

In my opinion , for the first time I have gotten to benefit donation from an humanitarian organisation . I personally , applaud GiveDirectly for being transparent and honest with the promises they made. I would echo that having door to door visitations at enrollment helped the community understand GiveDirectly more and also made the community members to feel that they were part of the organisations operations . I do not see what GiveDirectly did wrong at its work.

What did you spend your second transfer on?

I added my second transfer onto my first transfer and deposited the money in the store where we partly bought a tuktuk . I believe that after settling the arrears that is left in order to acquire full ownership of this tuktuk . I feel their would be an increase in our daily income hence I am hopeful that we shall be able to do a lot of developments at our home using the profits such as buying livestock .

Initial Payment

Transfer Amount

55000 KES ($530 USD)

over 4 years ago

Describe the biggest difference in your daily life.

My husband is employed as a motorbike operator in town and through the small income that he earns, we were able to save a portion of the amount with the intention of buying our own. Receiving this transfer to me has helped me to add to the savings and we are going to reach our target savings sooner than we had expected. This will give us a stable source of income. This means meeting my family's basic needs will be much easier. So far, being able to save this much is the biggest difference in my life.

Describe the moment when you received your money. How did you feel?

I got a message very early that morning. When I read the contents of the message, I realized it was from GiveDirectly. They had sent me my first transfer. I had been anxiously waiting for that money. I don't know why I was sure they would send it, but I believed them and I knew the money would get in anytime. I was so excited because I knew my life would never be the same again.

What did you spend your first transfer on?

I spent KES 2000 to pay for my children school fees so that they would be allowed to continue with their studies. I don't want them to to be interrupted by being sent home. I saved the rest of the amount in my account. I had already begun saving and my intention is to save enough money to purchase a motorbike for taxi services. I added this money to the existing savings. Having our own motorbike will ensure I get a stable source of income even after Give Directly have stopped sending us the monthly transfers. At least I will no longer be depending on my husband's income.

Enrolled

over 4 years ago

What does receiving this money mean to you?

For over 10 years now, my husband has been operating 'tuk-tuk' taxi (a three-wheeled motorized vehicle) in Mombasa on a contractual basis. With the vast experience and expertise gained in this sector, it has been his desire to own one, but financial constraint has been a great hindrance. Therefore, for our transfers, we intend to use it as a deposit in one of the loan providers so that we can secure one on hire-purchase. I strongly believe that the income earned there will be able to service the loan while at the same time cater to the needs of the family. Within one year, we will have full ownership of it, and our dream will be fully realized. This to us is a reliable source of income and that is what receiving this money means to the family.

What is the happiest part of your day?

My day always entails undertaking household chores from cleaning, to ensure that children get ready for school to make sure that they at least get food. All these require proper planning, this is what I do every morning when I wake up. This makes it happiest part of my day because it informs how the day will look like in terms of it being successful or not. In that regard, It will ensure that I utilize my day is well well utilized.

What is the biggest hardship you've faced in your life?

Being a stay home mother deep in the village, and solely depending on the husband meager income, it is a real challenge to raise the children comfortably. To me, lack of alternative sources of income has been the biggest hardship in life and it has resulted in poor health due to lack of proper nutrition. For us, the luxury of a three-meal a day is not on our menu. Again, we struggle a lot to keep children at school and this is very devastating knowing that their future is at stake. Given that my husband is not in a position to sufficiently provide for us, I have tried a number of times to at least supplement the shortage, by looking for odd jobs around but it has all been in vain since I cannot balance with raising young children who require maximum attention from me. Securing a 'tuk-tuk' for taxi business we be an answer to our financial crisis and that is what we are going for.