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 biggest difference in your daily life.
The biggest difference in my daily life is that I do not buy milk nowadays like before hence I can save some money daily. Before I received the transfer from GiveDirectly, my family would skip breakfast sometimes since I could not afford to buy milk daily.
Describe the moment when you received your money. How did you feel?
After the enrollment process, people from other villages were discouraging us that GiveDirectly will not honor their promise of sending us a lump sum amount of money at once and that we should not acceapt to be enrolled but I did not believe them. When I received my transfers, I was overwhelmed with happiness since I knew that those people who had been discouraging us from taking part in the program had been shamed.
What did you spend your first transfer on?
I spent my first transfer to repay a debt which was already overdue. I also used the remaining amount worth 35000 KES to buy a cow. I decided to buy a cow and not to build a house like most of the people in the village since buying milk daily was costly and was straining me a lot.
Enrolled
access_time over 5 years ago
What does receiving this money mean to you?
This money will help me a lot. Receiving this money means that I will no longer languish in poverty because I will start my dream business of buying and selling cattle. Accordingly, I will attain more income and thus enjoy a better living standard.
What is the happiest part of your day?
The happiest part of my day is at the afternoon when resting after a tiresome casual task. This is the time that I restore my energy before embarking on other social activities and the search for the following day's tasks.
What is the biggest hardship you've faced in your life?
The biggest hardship I have faced in life is absence of advanced skills and knowledge to secure a well paying job. Accordingly, I have been struggling to make ends meet by handling tediuos casual tasks that attract little wages. Subsequently, I have been living below my expectation.
