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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2nd Payment
Transfer Amount
53150 KES ($464 USD)
access_time 2 years ago
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How is your life different than it would have been if you never received the transfer?
I am planning to start a poultry-keeping project using my salary since we have been able to achieve the goal that we had as a family using the transfer. I will be buying chicken in bits depending on the money that I have. I work as an enforcement officer in our county and our salary is sometimes delayed for up to three months before we get them. With this project running, it will be my fallback plan that will enable me to cater to our needs and my transport expenses instead of taking loans from people as I have been doing.
In your opinion, what does GiveDirectly do well, and what does it not do well?
GiveDirectly did well by employing the best field officers. They were respectful and never harassed anyone during the entire period that they were in our village. In addition, all the eligible households were enrolled in the program and we all received an equal amount of money. I do not see anything that it did not do well.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
When I received my second transfer, I spent KES 30000 to build a house for my children and I still have KES 21000 that I am planning to use in buying cement and sand to use in cementing its floors. We have two children and they have been sleeping in our living room since our main house is made of two rooms only. Because of this, they would at times have to stay awake for a long time especially when we are having visitors who are sleeping over. I am glad that we have been able to achieve this goal of building a house for them. We had not been able to achieve this on our own despite working as an enforcement officer in our county since our salary is delayed most of the time and whenever we are paid, we are never paid the full amount.
Initial Payment
Transfer Amount
55000 KES ($484 USD)
access_time 2 years ago
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Describe the moment when you received your money. How did you feel?
My transfer came at the least expected time, it was late at night at around 11 pm when I was woken up by a ringtone, since I was already awake I decided to check what the message was all about, that was when I realised that I had received a sum of KES 55,000 from GiveDirectly, I was overwhelmed with joy in that we never went back to bed immediately, my husband too was excited and happy, this is because we knew that we will be able to accomplish the goals that we had.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life since you started receiving payments from GiveDirectly.
The biggest difference in my life today is that I now have a decent house, I was unable to do the completion due to lack of funds, in addition to that I no longer buy milk daily, this is because I get to milk the dairy cow that I bought where I get at least 2litres of milk daily which is enough for our daily consumption, thus cutting down on the cost of buying milk daily, we are all grateful for the support that has lifted our living standards amazingly.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
Upon receiving my transfer I knew that I will be able to accomplish the projects that I had, I had started building a house in the village, but unfortunately, it was left halfway due to financial constraints, therefore I used a sum of KES 30,000 in plastering the floor of my house, In addition to that I bought a dairy cow worth 25,000, I am so happy that I was able to accomplish all this in a short time thus I am thankful for the support.
Enrolled
access_time over 2 years ago
What does receiving this money mean to you?
Receiving this money will mean that I will be able to complete the house that I had started to construct. I plan to use KES 40000 of the transfer to complete the house. I plan to use the remaining amount of the transfer to do poultry farming, that is, constructing a shed and buying the chicken. I am a county law enforcement officer and rely mainly on my salary to feed my family. We are often paid on time and sometimes the salary may delay for months before being paid. I saw that it was better to have a business that I run that will aid me when our salary is uncertain.
What is the happiest part of your day?
When Covid-19 hit, we were not sure about our job security because most companies downscaled and left many people jobless. The fact that I am still employed and earn a salary has made me happy in the last 6 months because I know that I can take care of my family well.
What is the biggest hardship you've faced in your life?
The main challenge that I am facing now is financial constraints. The money that I earn from my job cannot allow me to feed my family and do other projects because it is less. I plan on diversifying my income so that I do not strain so much in doing my projects and sustaining my family.
