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 ($462 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 a father of two and when I received these transfers, I had great plans for my family. With the first transfer, I was able to buy a dairy cow and built a new house for my family. With the second transfer, I had plans of investing in farming and opening up a small business for my wife, However, when the mmoney came my wife insisted that she was going to make all the plans on how the money was going to be spent. I geve her KES 51000 from the second transfer only for her to flee our home leaving me with our two children. My new goal however is still on course and it is to be able to advance ny farming practices to ensure that we have maximum productivity from it. This will also supplement the income that I get from my motorcycle business that sometimes gives us very little or no income at all considering that the motorcycle is not mine.
In your opinion, what does GiveDirectly do well, and what does it not do well?
In my opinion GiveDirectly did well by giving us money unconditionally. This gave all of us the freedom to spend the money on things that were so dear to us and that we thought would bring the cahnge that we so desired.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
I used the first transfer to buy a dairy cow and bought building materials with the remainder. I was supposed to complete the construction of a new house on receiving the second transfer but when I received it the money was stolen hence stopping my plans of completing the contruction of a new house. I normally rely on motorcycle business to make some income that feeds my family but this business is sometimes very challenging in terms of income received and the expenses incurred.
Initial Payment
Transfer Amount
55000 KES ($484 USD)
access_time over 2 years ago
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Describe the moment when you received your money. How did you feel?
It was in the evening after a long day of working in the fields, I was exhausted, that was when I heard my phone ringing, upon checking I saw a Mpesa notification showing that I had received the promised transfer, words cannot explain how happy I was, I then informed my wife who was equally happy and excited, we then embarked on planning on how we would use our transfer.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life since you started receiving payments from GiveDirectly.
The biggest difference in my daily life today is that I now have a decent house, it makes me happy that our living standard was lifted from where we were to a higher level, unlike before where we used to live in a small grass-thatched house, on top of that we also have good seats that our guests can comfortably seat on. I am grateful for the support because it has enabled me to achieve so much in a short time.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
I am a Boda Boda rider and a father of two children, I had a plan in place on how I would spend my transfer, the transfer was timely because it came at a time when I was planning on building an iron sheet house, I used to live in a grass-thatched house before due to financial constraints, upon receiving my transfer I used KES 30,000 in building a decent house for my family, in addition to that I bought a cow with KES 15,000, Lastly, I bought a sofa sets and foodstuffs with the remaining part of the money, I am grateful for the support that lifted my living standards.
Enrolled
access_time over 2 years ago
What does receiving this money mean to you?
I am a young person with a very young family and we are still establishing ourselves. This means that we are so privileged to be enrolled in this program and it has come at the right time for us when we have enough energy to work hard. These transfers will have a lifetime positive effect on our assets as a family and the education of my children. I have been working as a motorcycle rider since I established this family and we usually get what's mostly enough to sustain our food and clothing needs only. This usually worries me about the future that we might not be able to take our children to school or even provide for them adequately. We would therefore like to invest in livestock because that's what can withstand the drought conditions that we sometimes experience here. We can no longer invest in crop cultivation because of unpredictable weather patterns. We shall use all the transfers to purchase 5 cows and in a few years they will have multiplied increasing our assets at the same time we shall be benefiting from selling milk. I am now confident that my family's needs will be met going into the future.
What is the happiest part of your day?
I had separated with my wife last year because life was so hard due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and my business was not making any income. We slept without having a meal for some days and that's when my wife decided to go back to her parents. It was a sad and depressing moment for me. In June this year, however, I managed to pick up the pieces together and they came back to our house. This gave me a lot of happiness.
What is the biggest hardship you've faced in your life?
The challenge I'm currently encountering is having to buy everything we eat. We try to produce our food here on this farm but as you can see everything has dried up due to inconsistent rainfall or sometimes too much of it which becomes destructive. Water for domestic use is also another challenge. We do not have clean water here, we fetch from a nearby pond which we share with animals, and sometimes the water is not potable at all. My children were diagnosed with typhoid recently and I believe it is due to the water we drink.
