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 ($442 USD)
access_time over 1 year ago
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How is your life different than it would have been if you never received the transfer?
We are a young family and our first born recently joined high school while the second born is yet to join next year. In readiness to pay school fees, we are thinking of expanding farming. We used to cultivate a small portion of land for farming but we intend to increase the portion of land that we plant maize so that when we harvest we shall have surplus production for sale so that we can have money for paying school fees for our children.
In your opinion, what does GiveDirectly do well, and what does it not do well?
GiveDirectly did well by coming to our county where we are mostly affected by droughts. Most of us struggle to make ends meet. They gave us reasonable amounts of money which helped us to improve our livelihood.
There was nothing that GiveDirectly never did well.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
The second transfer which I received from GiveDirectly enabled me to do some of the things which I couldn't afford anytime soon. I spent KES 43000 on constructing a new house which is made of iron sheets roof. I am glad that we got a good shelter over our heads, the one we had was so squeezed but now we got a much specious house. For the remaining amount, I spent KES 3000 on buying a sheep and the rest on buying maize for consumption.
Initial Payment
Transfer Amount
55000 KES ($481 USD)
access_time 2 years ago
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Describe the moment when you received your money. How did you feel?
I was happy and grateful after confirming the receipt of the first transfer. I was at home at that moment at around 6:00 pm and on informing him, he was equally excited. We never withdrew the same day since our plans on spending were still on and after aligning everything that night, we collected at the nearby shopping center the following morning.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life since you started receiving payments from GiveDirectly.
The biggest difference in my daily life is the presence of a dairy cow that I bought after receiving the first transfer. I am glad that I will soon be able to sell some liters of milk to earn income that will, in turn, be useful in sorting other household bills and also part of the school fees for my children.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
I spent ten first transfers on the purchase of a dairy cow that was priced at KES 35000. I already had another cow that my neighbor helped me with and has been providing us with enough milk. I needed mine that will provide us with extra liters of milk that I can sell out while I am still keeping the neighbor's cow and will be the ultimate producer of milk in the future. I also spent KES 6500 on two sacks of maize that we are still using at the moment. I also spent KES 5000 on new clothing for my five children and used the remaining on other household goods after saving KES 2000.
Enrolled
access_time over 2 years ago
What does receiving this money mean to you?
Receiving this money means that I shall start having a better and reliable source of income. I currently depend on casual jobs, mostly construction jobs. These jobs are rare to find because it is not always that people are building houses in the village. During such moments my children sleep hungry which is so disturbing and it wearies me as a parent because they keep asking me why I couldn't buy them food (wiping tears). With your transfers, I want to cultivate vegetables and maize because we have recently received constant rainfall here and this will enable me to have enough food for my children and also have a surplus to sell in the local market.
What is the happiest part of your day?
We received a cash gift of KES. 2000 last month from a relative. This gave me a lot of happiness because we were able to settle some debts that we had and also it enable us to seek treatment for our eldest child who was sick then and we didn't have any money to take them to hospital.
What is the biggest hardship you've faced in your life?
Lack of enough food for my family is one of the challenges am currently facing. My children as you can see are not in their best health, I think because we lack variety in the food we eat. I also have a challenge with the income I get, KES. 100 daily caters only for food. It cannot allow me to start diversifying my farming which I know will earn me more income.
