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 7:30 am and I had just finished taking my breakfast when suddenly I heard my phone ringing notifying me of a new message. I checked it and I could not believe what I read. It was a mobile money message saying that I had received KES 55000 from GiveDirectly as promised. I was so happy on seeing this and I shared the good news with my family members who were so happy too on hearing about it. We thanked God for the blessing. We then sat down later and we planned on how we were going to spend it.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life since you started receiving payments from GiveDirectly.
The transfer has brought a very big difference in my life and that of my family. We were able to fulfill our wish of having another cow. We bought a heifer that we expect to help us in the future when it calves. We will be able to have a constant supply of milk when one cow is dry and we will no longer incur the cost of buying milk. Our children are also happy because they got new clothes for themselves. The household budget costs have also overally reduced and I have managed to save some of the money that I make from my business of selling walking sticks.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
We spent KES 20000 of our recent transfer on paying the person who was taking care of our two boys who underwent the circumcision ceremony. We also spent another KES 15000 on buying a heifer. We bought it so that it can help us in the future when it calves. We had only one cow and usually when it dries, we are forced to buy milk where we usually buy a litre daily at KES 40. With the heifer we will be able to have a constant supply of milk when one cow is dry. We had thought of buying another cow before but we had just not gotten the money for doing so. I usually make walking sticks that older men like walking around with them and I sell them at the market places. The money that I make the sales, usually help me in paying school fees for my five children and meeting the household needs of my family. Other than that, we also bought a bag of maize for our consumption at KES 4000 and a few household essentials such as sugar, tea leaves, etc. With the remaining transfer amount, we used it on buying clothes for the children and for ourselves. Thank you so much GiveDirectly for your help.
Enrolled
access_time almost 3 years ago
What does receiving this money mean to you?
Receiving this money will mean a better education for my children. I have two children who are currently in Secondary level and school fees have accrued to KES.60,000. Currently I do a small business of buying and selling poultry. Out of this my average earning is KES 1000 in a week. This amount goes to buying food and sometimes school uniforms for my children. I would like to offset this balance in school and expand my business of poultry through buying a larger stock. This means the profit margin will also increase. The first transfers will cater for the school fees and second transfers will boost my business.
What is the happiest part of your day?
For the past four months, we managed to build a spacious house that brought comfort in the family. In the past we used to stay in one room and I used to be worried for my children who were also growing. We did not have privacy with my wife and children. From the savings that we had made, I managed to build a two roomed spacious house which was a great achievement to us in the family.
What is the biggest hardship you've faced in your life?
The current challenge that I face is lack of money to pay for school fees. My two children had been forced to stay at home due to the accrued fees balance. I was worried that their future will be affected and that they will not have proper education. I am now happy that I will get this transfers to offset the school fees and settled them in school.
