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 now have four goats. I am hoping very soon they will multiply since currently, some have already started reproducing. My wish is to sell the off springs for a dairy cow then buy a cow. I decided to buy the goats because the dairy cow is very expensive and I could not afford to purchase it with my own money. I also had some other needs to cater therefore I could not buy the cow with the whole transfer. My plan is to spare some liters of milk for my family to sell the others once I get the dairy cow. I believe that the dairy business will earn me an income that will help me in paying school fees for my children and also cater to other basic needs for my family.
Describe the moment when you received your money. How did you feel?
It was around 10 pm when I heard the notification message from my phone. I had to give the phone to my helper to confirm what the message was all about because I don't know how to read. After checking, he told me it was an Mpesa message from GiveDirectly informing me that I had received my first transfer as they had promised. I was so happy because I knew my life would finally change. I was also glad that they had finally erased the doubts I had.
What did you spend your first transfer on?
I spent part of my first transfer to buy four goats. I have always wanted to keep them but due to my financial status, I could not afford to buy even one. I always paid school fees and bought some stationery like books and pens which were expensive and had nothing left to save so that I can buy them. I am glad I finally bought them through the help I got from this organization. Apart from that I also bought building materials. I bought building poles, 14 pieces of iron sheets and a few nails. I also bought enough foodstuffs for my family with the remaining amount of money.
Enrolled
access_time over 5 years ago
What does receiving this money mean to you?
My biggest concern now is how am going to educate and feed my nine children. Currently, I struggle a lot to put food in the table given that our stores are dry and my husband who works in Mombasa hardly provide for the family. For my two children who are in secondary school, I have not paid even a single cent since the year began. Teachers have branded me a liar and in most cases, they stay out of school. This is something that I need to change once I get my transfers. To achieve, I will start a hotel business at the nearby shopping center. And having owned a hotel before, I understand the tricks and risks that come with it. This is where I will invest a huge part of my transfer in. Secondly, I will pay part of arrears that have accrued in school. I want these transfers to be part of my children stories in their educational growth.
What is the happiest part of your day?
The happiest part of my day is in the evening when I have less work and my twins are asleep. I wake up every morning with a lot of stress not knowing where our next meal will come from. And my day revolves around doing household chores and looking for food. See, we don't have the luxury of three meals a day and we normally save the best meal for dinner. This, therefore, makes our evening the best part of the day.
What is the biggest hardship you've faced in your life?
Lack of reliable sources of income has been the biggest hardship I've ever faced in life. At the moment I don't engage in any strenuous activity because I recently gave birth to twins thus all my attention is geared toward them and given that I have other eight children to take care of, the situation is overwhelming. Again, I get dismal support from my husband in terms of financial and social support. The house we are currently living in was built by Korean well wishers, who sympathized with the dire situation we had. Am so relieved Give Directly has come through, at least my children will not lack basic necessities again.
