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.
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2nd Payment
Transfer Amount
53150 KES ($493 USD)
access_time over 3 years ago
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How is your life different than it would have been if you never received the transfer?
goats, house My life is different than how it would have been becasue I am now a proud owner of several goats. Currently, some have started reproducing, and thus assures me that I will have many of them very soon. Once they multiply, I will sell the matured offspring and pay my bills like school fees for my children and the family's bread. To add to that, I have a big decent house which I also acquired through the transfers. The previous house was in a poor sttse I never thought I would own a better one any time soon. It has really been a frustrating moment because I couldn't even host visitors and whenever I had one, I was forced to seek shelter for her in my neighbor's houses. I am now feeling proud and happy for this huge step in my life courtesy of GiveDirectly
In your opinion, what does GiveDirectly do well, and what does it not do well?
In my opinion, GiveDirectly does well in so many ways but the fact that we were provided with a mobile phone for those who didn't have one was the best. The majority of us never had the opportunity to own one since they were too expensive. We are so grateful for GiveDirectly becasue it made it happen. I do not see any part GiveDirectly failed us.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
I spent a huge part of my second transfers on buying livestock which include nine goats at a total of KES 32000. This has been my desire to own them but becasue of my low income, I culd not afford to purchase even one. I settled for goats because they are cheap and they reproduce faster compared to the other domestic animals. Also, their pictures are readily available in my region and it will be much easier for me to herd them. In addition to that, I bought foodstuffs like maize, vegetables, beans and some other household items that I was lacking.
Initial Payment
Transfer Amount
55000 KES ($502 USD)
access_time almost 4 years ago
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Describe the moment when you received your money. How did you feel?
I received the transfer message around noon.I called for my helper who confirmed to me that I had received my first transfer from GiveDirectly. I felt happy because it would enable me to build a new home for my family.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life since you started receiving payments from GiveDirectly.
The biggest difference in my daily life is that I managed to build a new decent and iron roofed house. So far this is the greatest achievement because the previous house was in a very bad state. It was grass thatched and leaking during rains. It would have taken me years to build a new house had I not received this transfer. I am happy to live with my family in my new iron roofed house.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
My desire has been to build a new house to live with my family. I was living in a grass thatched house for years. It was leaking uncontrollable whenever in rained. I was at times seeking shelter from my neighbours. However, because I lacked the resources to do this, I was forced to live in my grass thatched house. When I received my first transfer, I spent a bigger portion of it on buying building materials which include building poles, nails and iron sheets and paid for the labour cost. My house will now be complete soon and move into it. This is an achievement that I could not accomplish at my own cost had I not received the transfer.
Enrolled
access_time 4 years ago
What does receiving this money mean to you?
A decent house is the most important property that an individual opts to have but to me, this has been impossible for many years and I have always spent my nights in a structure that is not worthy of living. I have found it shameful to welcome a visitor and this means postponing all scheduled visits to my home. With the arrival of GiveDirectly to our village, I have great hopes of getting a better house since I will soon have the opportunity to construct a decent and spacious iron-roofed house for myself. For this, I plan to spend utmost $400 to have this ambition achieved, something that will bring a better change to my life. On the other hand, I also intend to upscale my farming and this means buying oxen and ox plough at an estimated cost of $380, this will assure me of early land preparation and eventually food security for my household. Therefore, this is generally what receiving this money means to me.
What is the happiest part of your day?
I mostly consider the evening as the happiest part of my day because it is at this moment when I get the maximum time to relax. Unlike in the morning and afternoon hours when I am always busy doing my household chores plus charcoal burning respectively, jobs which drain much of my energy.
What is the biggest hardship you've faced in your life?
A woman in our village is considered to be doing household chores like cooking, fetching firewood and water plus other household duties. This is very different when it comes to me because most of the men dominated jobs like charcoal burning are what I have been doing in my life. Despite this job being tiresome and time-consuming, its income is always very low and it can not fully cater to my basic needs. Therefore, the lack of a stable source of income is the biggest hardship that I have ever faced in my life.
