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
53150 KES ($487 USD)
access_time over 2 years ago
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How is your life different than it would have been if you never received the transfer?
My life is different than how it would have been if I never received the transfers in that I have renovated my house to look better. I used to live in mud floor house. I we were being exposed to dust. I depend on small scale farming and the harvest that we get annually is so small and only for consumption
I didn't had any surplus to sell to earn an income to renovate my house. My children were being exposed to dust particles. Dust related diseases is so costly to treat. I was so worried, it has always been my dream to cement the floor of my house. When I received the second transfer I found it wise to build cement and other materials needed. I Currently I live in free dust floor and we are no longer exposed to dust. Cleaning the floor nowadays is so simple and take less minutes compare to mud floor. I am now so happy. GiveDirectly has made my dream come through. I am so grateful and thankful for the support because GiveDirectly has changed my living standard.
In your opinion, what does GiveDirectly do well, and what does it not do well?
In my opinion GiveDirectly does well by giving money to the poor in the community to build better houses and to buy dairy cows. I do not find anything that GiveDirectly did not do well.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
I spent part of the money I received from GiveDirectly on renovating my house to look better than before. I used to live in a small mud floor house and I was exposed to dust. I used some money to cement the floor. The rest of the money I bought food and clothes for my children. I am so happy because GiveDirectly has changed my living standard.
Initial Payment
Transfer Amount
55000 KES ($509 USD)
access_time almost 3 years ago
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Describe the moment when you received your money. How did you feel?
It was a great moment when I first realized that the transfers I had been waiting for were finally in. I thanked God for opening a way for me when I really needed a breakthrough with great joy.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life since you started receiving payments from GiveDirectly.
I am glad that my dream to own another cow added to the one I had been rearing. I was happy to get a potential Milk-producing breed as I was eyeing one to help raise money towards school fees payment for my children in the future. This is one biggest difference in my daily life as it came with bundles of joy. Feeding them every morning gives me hope as raising school fees had been a great challenge to me in the past, and this would be the only way out.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
After receiving the first transfer, I spent 28000KES on buying a Friesian cow. I needed a good breed to add to the one we had before since I needed enough milk for the household used and also a surplus for sale. I also managed to compete farm operation from farm bloughing the two acre piece to planting which cost 10000KES after buying all the required farm inputs. I also spent 3000KES on buying stationeries and school fees for my children currently in their lower primary and used the last bit on buying household foodstuff.
Enrolled
access_time 3 years ago
What does receiving this money mean to you?
Receiving this money means that my youngest son shall successfully pursue his studies, especially up to Grade 12. This is because I will utilize the transfer on purchasing more livestock that will be sold later on to raise the relatively huge school fees. I sold almost all the cattle I had (about 10) to educate our three other children. We have been worrying about how we will raise fees for our youngest child following the exhaustion of the cattle we had. As a family that values education yet has relatively inadequate resources, we have been struggling to ensure we educate our children.
What is the happiest part of your day?
As a subsistence farmer and housewife, I usually work on my farm from mid-morning to mid-afternoon hours. I would either be handling our livestock or tending to our crops during such a period. Hence, the happiest part of my day is in the evening when I am taking some rest after accomplishing my tasks. This makes me feel like a responsible parent.
What is the biggest hardship you've faced in your life?
The biggest hardship I have faced in life is educating my three children yet I had no reliable source of income nor adequate resources. As subsistence farmers, we usually attain food items that could just sustain us. Hence, raising school fees has been a challenge. In that regard, we were forced to sell 10 out of the 11 cattle we had to educate our children. Such a move has left us more vulnerable since we have no more cattle to sell in case of an emergency. To worsen the situation, none of the educated children has gained any significant resources, meaning they still rely on us for their survival.
