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?
It was around 9am when my friend and I were making some charcoals for sale when she received a message in her phone. She jumped in happiness after seeing the promised transfer of KES 55000.00 from GiveDirectly has been sent. While I was still wondering, she told me to confirm whether I have received too but since I do not know how to read, I gave her my phone to check. The news she gave me was good news, blindly I was working with a huge amount in my phone without knowing. My heart was filled with joy and I got energized by the good news thus I continued with the piece of work I was doing to completion before leaving for home.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life since you started receiving payments from GiveDirectly.
The biggest difference I experienced was seeing my son who was in his final year in college being retained in school so as take his studies comfortably. Before receiving the transfer from GiveDirectly I was a stranded parent, my mind wasn’t at peace because I thought my son would have wasted all the years in college if he won’t complete his course. Thank you to GiveDirectly, their transfer did a wonderful thing in my life and to my son too.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
For a while, I have been living in a small and congested house. The bedroom was serving several purposes like store and sometimes it was becoming a sitting room. After withdrawing the money I decided to construct a spacious house to accommodate my family well. I bought 20 pieces of iron sheets for KES 19000.00, building poles for KES 5800.00.
Thereafter, I took KES 20000.00 and paid school fees for my college son and KES 4000.00 and for my primary school children. Having settled those, I bought some food for the family.
Enrolled
access_time 3 years ago
What does receiving this money mean to you?
Receiving this money means good education for my children and self reliance through livestock production. I am a 34 year old widow with a family of 5 children who still depend on me. With an income of 10,000 KES that comes from charcoal burning, sustaining my family's needs is challenging. A huge part of the income goes into buying food and clearing medical bills. I intend to buy 10 goats at a total cost of 25,000 KES. Goat keeping will make my dream of being self reliant come true. In a year, the goats will have multiplied and will be selling them to earn an income. My 5 children are still schooling. The eldest is in a technical college and the other four in primary school. Paying their school fees being a challenge for me, I will save the rest of the money for paying their school fees as they continue with their studies.
What is the happiest part of your day?
The happiest part of my day is in the evening. Charcoal burning is a very tedious task. I spend my whole day in the forest cutting down trees for charcoal burning. I only get time to relax in the evening.
What is the biggest hardship you've faced in your life?
Lack of money is the biggest challenge I am facing. I have had a goal of keeping livestock for about five years now but due to the lack of money, this ambition is yet to pass. I work as a charcoal burner where I earn approximately 10,000 KES per month. Having a family of 5 children, this amount is never enough to buy food for us and still buy goats. In some cases, I even fail to pay school fees for my children in time.
