GDLive Newsfeed
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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Enrollment
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Transfers
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Completed
Newsfeed > Hellen's Profile
Hellen's family
Hellen
landscapeCountry:
kenya
workOccupation:
Subsistence farming
faceAge:
58
workCampaign
Kenya Large Transfer
There will be no further updates from this completed recipient.
2nd Payment
Transfer Amount
53150 KES ($468 USD)
access_time 2 years ago
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How is your life different than it would have been if you never received the transfer?
We do not have any new goals at the moment. We plan to finish the construction of the house that we started building using the transfers that we got from GiveDirectly. The house that we built is big and that is why it has cost a lot. My husband is a retiree, we plan to use the pension that he receives every month to complete the work. It is not much but it is going to help somehow.
In your opinion, what does GiveDirectly do well, and what does it not do well?
GiveDirectly is doing well in their work. I liked the way they conducted the meeting with the community members before starting the enrollment. Everybody got to learn what the program was all about uniformly. I do not see anything wrong with their work. I would like to urge them to continue with the same.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
We spent our entire second transfer money on buying more materials for the construction of our house. We bought more timber which was so expensive, more bags of cement, and the windows. We had started building the house with the first transfer but the money was not enough since we built a big house. We wanted to build another house because the one that we use to live in had become old and it was made of mud. Getting good mud for smearing the walls and the floor had become a big challenge since it is no longer available easily. So when we got the transfer, we decided to build one that is made of wooden planks. This was what we had longed to do for a while. We haven't finished the construction but once it is done, we will be able to live in a good house just like some of our fellow neighbors. Thank you so much GiveDirectly for the support. May God bless you.
 
Initial Payment
Transfer Amount
55000 KES ($497 USD)
access_time over 2 years ago
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Describe the moment when you received your money. How did you feel?
I was at home with my helper that morning when I received a message, and on trying to read through it, I could not understand quite well as I could not believe the little information I could pick out of it. I had to call upon my helper who confirmed my doubts. This was the best moment in my life as I had been anticipating receiving this amount with only one goal - to construct a new house. With the excitement on, we had to plan on withdrawing the amount as soon as possible as we could not risk losing to the rampant deceptive fraudsters that we had been hearing around.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life since you started receiving payments from GiveDirectly.
The biggest difference in my daily life is the joy of seeing a great structure that is currently coming up in our household. It has been my prayer to see this happening, and I am grateful that it is finally getting answered. The cold that I had been experiencing with my family will soon be a story of the past once the new construction is complete. I thank God for this, and I am hoping that the second transfer will also come in time to initiate and complete other new projects.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
Living in a single hut with my family of four had been so hard as the structure is already old, leaking on the roof, and with crevices on the walls that let in lots of colds that affect my children's health status. It has been our hope to one day accumulate enough money that can help in sourcing enough construction materials that could enable us to construct a new one. The plan has taken so long as none of us had a consistent source of income that made it hard for us to make consistent savings. Receiving the first transfer came in handy as we had to spend the whole amount on the construction of a semi-permanent house. With KES 49500, I purchased 26 iron sheets and 150 timber to add to the pre-existing ones. With the remaining amount, I have been using it on paying labor cost that is still working on the construction site. I am grateful for this breakthrough that has kept our hope of moving into the new house higher.
 
Enrolled
access_time over 2 years ago
 
What does receiving this money mean to you?
Recieving this money means I will do a renovation in my house and take my son to college to pursue his education. I am a mother of 9 children and in a polygamy family whereby our husband has to play his roles in both sides of the house, this makes him to strain alot. I am also a house wife and we totally depend on farming which again the weather conditions are not favourable in our area thus low produce in the farms I plan to use KES 50,000 to pay for school fees, KES 50,000 to renovate my house and spend the remaining in buying atleast one dairy cow which will help us in milk production.
What is the happiest part of your day?
I am happy during the day, since I love farming this is the time when I go to farm and get to know what to do in order to get more yields.
What is the biggest hardship you've faced in your life?
Being a mother of 9 children and having a responsibility to see that all are educated has been a tall order to me since I have to play both roles of being a mother and a dad, when my husband is not with us, I have two children who are still in school and one who wants to join college, the farming which we depend on have always demoralized us because of poor weather conditions. As I age I nolonger have energy to smear my house with mud that I have to travel long distance to get it.