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 was at home in the evening, around 6 PM, doing my usual chores when my son came to me, holding his phone, and said I had succeeded. I didn't quite understand what he meant at first, so I took the phone from him to see for myself. When I looked, I saw that it was the GiveDirectly transfers that had come through. I was so excited, I immediately went to tell my neighbor that the money had arrived! My heart was filled with joy because I knew that now I could finally replace the furniture that had been destroyed during the floods.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life since you started receiving payments from GiveDirectly.
The biggest difference in my life right now is that I no longer have to go out looking for casual jobs to provide for my family. Before receiving the cash from GiveDirectly, I used to burn charcoal just to make sure my children had something to eat. It was a hard life, always struggling to make ends meet. But now, thanks to GiveDirectly, I have enough to feed my family without having to resort to burning charcoal. I only take on casual labor when the need arises, but it's no longer a daily necessity. This support has truly changed our lives for the better.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
When I received the unconditional cash transfer, the first thing I did was use $70 to buy a new bed and mattress. You see, when the floods came, our home was badly affected, and we lost nearly everything, including our bed and mattress. We had no choice but to rely on the mats we had received from the Red Cross. Having a proper bed again has made a world of difference, providing us with a comfortable place to sleep. Next, I bought three plastic chairs for $21 so my family and I could have somewhere decent to sit. Before the cash transfer, we used to sit on plastic containers, which wasn’t ideal, especially when we had guests. Now, we have proper chairs, which has brought a bit more dignity to our home. With $8, I was also able to buy a new school uniform for my son. His old uniform was swept away during the floods, and I didn’t want him to go to school without proper attire. I then used $30 to buy clothes for my children and myself since our clothing was also lost in the floods. It was important to have something to change into. The remaining $30 went toward buying household food items, which helped us get through the weeks after the disaster. I saved the little that was left to cover any emergencies, like buying milk or other food items. Having this cash transfer has helped me rebuild and provide some comfort for my family during a very difficult time.
Enrolled
access_time 4 months ago
What do you plan to do with the cash transfer?
I am currently living in a flood prone area, when the floods came we were moved out of the village by Red-cross Kenya to a safer grounds. When we came back I found that water is still in my house because I built it on a lower ground water stagnated for long while other places are already dry. I am planning to use my cash transfers to shift my house to high ground for safety. I am also planning to buy school uniforms for my children because they have been wearing old worn out uniforms to school due to financial challenges.iam planning to use the remaining money to buy goats, chicken , food ,plastic chairs and utensils for my family.
What is the happiest part of your day?
I am very happy because since the day we were affected by the floods almost everybody in the village was diagnosed with pneumonia, typhoid and malaria but Iam lucky with my family nobody fall sick. And that brought joy into my life because we could have struggled looking for medication which is very expensive in my village because there is not operational hospital in a whole sub-location
What is the biggest hardship you've faced in your life?
The recent floods that invade my village did not spare my agricultural farm because I planted Kenya seed maize in my 2 acre piece of land hoping for the great harvested little did I know that all the efforts will be nill. I am now facing a lot of challenges fending for my family and paying off saccos loan that I used to invest in the farm which was swept away by floods because iam depending on casual labour which earns me KES 300 which is not enough for my family daily needs.
