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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 > Joyce's Profile
Joyce's family
Joyce
landscapeCountry:
kenya
workOccupation:
Subsistence farming
faceAge:
27
workCampaign
Kenya Large Transfer
There will be no further updates from this completed recipient.
2nd Payment
Transfer Amount
53150 KES ($493 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 build a better and spacious house. We used to live in a small mud house which could not host all the family comfortably. We were being exposed to dust particles which causes respiratory infection. I used to shy away from welcoming visitors. Currently I no longer get worried because I have enough space to host them. We depend on casual jobs at the quarry. This is a very hard job and the amount of money that I get through this is so small. I do not have a continuous source of income .We had talked with my spouse in building a better house, but we did not had the money. GiveDirectly has enabled us to achieve this. We have a spacious house and my children are so happy because they have their own rooms where they can do assignment without any disturbance. I am so grateful for the support because GiveDirectly has changed our 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 all the second transfer on building a better house for my family. We used to live in a small house which could not host all the family comfortably. I found it wise to invest on this for my family to be comfortable.
 
Initial Payment
Transfer Amount
55000 KES ($500 USD)
access_time 3 years ago
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Describe the moment when you received your money. How did you feel?
I was at the farm with my husband working when I heard my phone ringing notifying me of an incoming SMS. I stopped to check what it was all about and I could not believe what I read in that SMS. I was so happy to learn that we had received the 55000/= that GiveDirectly had promised us. I showed my husband the message and he also became very happy about seeing this. We chatted for a while with so much happiness in us giving thanks to God at the same time before we could embark on the farm work.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life since you started receiving payments from GiveDirectly.
The transfer has brought a big difference in our lives as a family. We have been able to expand the house by building a permanent one. The house now looks bigger and better. Our children and us will thus be able to have more space after it gets completed. We will also be free from dust and our children will no longer be developing sneezing problems. This has all been possible courtesy of GiveDirectly. We, therefore, are so grateful to them because they have uplifted us to a place that we thought we will never be able to reach.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
This transfer from GiveDirectly has helped us a lot. We have been able to do what seemed to had become impossible for us to achieve. We have been able to expand the house that we have been living in. We bought some building materials such as sand, cement and currently the construction is going on and the house is about to be completed. We decided to expand the house and build a permanent one because the one we have been living in is small and made of mud. The mud has been making the house to be dusty and this has also affected the children because they at times get colds and sneezing problems due to the dust. Although we had desired to do the above before, we were not in a position to due to lack of money. My husband and I depend on farming and casual jobs to earn a living and most of the money that we have been getting has been going to the purchase of food. So when we got the transfer from GiveDirectly, we saw an opportunity to be able to do what we have always desired to do because we had never had such a large sum of money before.
 
Enrolled
access_time over 3 years ago
 
What does receiving this money mean to you?
In our culture, we value cows so much to a point that you feel like an outcast when you do not have one. Someone is even considered wealthy when he/she has many in the homestead. At the moment, I am one of the few people in this village who own not even one. I am forced to buy milk every morning for my two children, and due to its scarcity, it is very expensive. I buy 3 liters for 50 shillings per liter every day. This is costly because I do not have a reliable source of income and I rely on casual jobs to make ends meet. I plan to acquire a quality cow for 40000 shillings. From it, I am sure to get 6-8 liters of milk daily which I will sell in a nearby market. Receiving this money will totally change the face of my family.
What is the happiest part of your day?
I ever happy in the morning than at any other time of the day because it is at this time that I plan my activities of the day. I do this with a lot of hope that I will emerge successful.
What is the biggest hardship you've faced in your life?
In this area, we solely depend on farming for our livelihood. With unpredictable weather patterns, this venture can be very discouraging. We sometimes go for up to 4 months without rain. There are times we witness floods that are equally destructive. Last year, I got only one sack of maize from my 1-acre piece of land. This is not enough to sustain my family until the next harvesting season. I have to look for other avenues of supplementing this. I am always forced to go and work on other people's farms for an extra coin. This is a tedious job because you work from morning to evening for just 200 shillings a day.