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
491520 RWF ($439 USD)
access_time over 1 year ago
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How is your life different than it would have been if you never received the transfer?
before i had no land to do agriculture.but since i have it now, i will be able to carryout agriculture and the ncome from Agriculture i have one kid who have tailoring skills i will buy her tailoring machine and we will nolonger be called poor.
In your opinion, what does GiveDirectly do well, and what does it not do well?
i love the fact that you're so thoughtful of giving people money in away of eradicating poverty and truly people's lived have greatly improved. if i can advise on what can be done better is that every member in the village should be given cash to go uniform.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
i had debt of someone of 300,000 frw which was left after buying a piece of land i immediately paid it. The remaining amount I used it to buy food for my family and renovated my house that was falling apart.
Initial Payment
Transfer Amount
329680 RWF ($300 USD)
access_time over 1 year ago
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Describe the moment when you received your money. How did you feel?
I was cultivating a rented field that is near my place. I first did not know the SMS ring alert was GD's transfer until II heard joyful screams from my neighbors. I waited till the day after to withdraw the money and immediately paid off the debts that I had, bought food and a piece of land.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life since you started receiving payments from GiveDirectly.
Before receiving LS1, I used to work on a rented field or for other people as a part time job and tried to sell the extra crops that I grew on the market. I can now get food in an easier way and I am so thankful I finally was able to buy the land that I had prayed for.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
I was working on a rented piece of land that I bought for 200 $, paid debts worth 72 $ and used the rest of the money to buy some food and utensils. I really needed land to work on and I am very thannkful I now have a spacious land.
Enrolled
access_time almost 2 years ago
What do you plan to do with the cash transfer?
As our family doesn't have any land, we hope to buy it on $700 and add some to my small business like $40. The remaining $60 will be used in buying foods for my family. I also need livestock but for now, I know that I can approach my friends who have cows or other domestic animals to give one to take care of it and get a profit of fertiliser from it. If my business goes well, I will definitely buy my livestocks.
What is the happiest part of your day?
What brought so much joy to me is when my neighbour saw how we were struggling in life and decided to give me her land and asked me to cultivate it of sorghum so that we will share the harvest after. This shows humanity and I am glad that I have someone to lean on when I am about to despair. Moreover, I remember I was with a child and he got sick of Maralia, he couldn't go to school for some time. One day, I went to the farm and heard from my neighbours that he went to school, I was shocked and thought that he will not make it but I thank God that he studied well and came back home safely.
What is the biggest hardship you've faced in your life?
We got married on August 26,1999. It was a very memorable moment to us because we were going to start our new life journey together. We lived in a great life from that time till 2019 when we had a disaster of soil erosion due to the rain and it took all our lands. We started hustling from that time. I could go to look for a casual job with husband. In 2020 September, I managed to rent a land on $120 per two years for farming to see if we can get food for children. Currently, we are still doing farming and as a wife in the family, I started a small business of selling vegetables(onions, tomatoes and chili) though it's not yet stable. It is not easy for us to get money for health insurance, school fees of children but when we got that casual jobs, we save at least $1 per week in order to resolve some issues in the future.
