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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2nd Payment
Transfer Amount
53150 KES ($441 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?
At the moment, I have a new goal to start a poultry project that will help in sorting the daily household expenses and even bigger bills in the future. I am doing an egg-collection business that has proven functional since I have registered a good profit from the same. Through the informal saving group, I will soon be able to fund the purchase of the construction materials and the chicks to kick-start the project.
In your opinion, what does GiveDirectly do well, and what does it not do well?
Everyone in the village got equal support from GiveDirectly, which transformed their families through the new projects they initiated. The free transfer gave us the confidence to spend freely on our goals without any fear of victimization from anyone. In the back of my mind, I was sure to meet all my goals, and am grateful that I finally did. Everyone in the village is happy and has never heard any complaint since they fully delivered all the promised.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
I could not complete the construction. I started with the first transfer since I had other demanding goals running alongside. On receiving the second transfer, I spent KES 30000 to complete the new house that has given my family of seven ample spaces. I also spend KES 5000 on foodstuff for my family, bought new furniture worth KES 10000 for the new house since we had few seats, and in addition, obtained a 100 liters plastic container useful shoring water in the house. I later spent the remaining amount on buying new clothes for my children who were grateful to GiveDirectly for the generous support.
Initial Payment
Transfer Amount
55000 KES ($484 USD)
access_time 2 years ago
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Describe the moment when you received your money. How did you feel?
I was thankful when I received the money from GiveDirectly. It was around 11:00 pm when I was awakened by a message that was a call from the neighbor shortly after that made me check the phone. I was with my husband at that moment and it was him who saw it first. The next morning we could not withdraw since everyone was visiting the Mpesa, but kept planning and withdrew on the third day.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life since you started receiving payments from GiveDirectly.
The biggest difference in my daily life is the great renovation of the old house that I had been struggling with in smearing. I am glad that the walls are now wooden and are not easily affected by the rein saving me a lot of time to attend to my other businesses that would have been undermined by the plastering process.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
Maintaining the mud walls of a large house that we had been living in with my family had been so challenging especially in the rainy season since the smeared mud would always be washed away by the raindrops. To make it perfect have always needed a special type of soil that is currently hard to find and has always demanded the whole day to collect enough from some kilometers away. on receiving the first transfer, I decided to use a better part of it in the renovation where I demolished all around the walls and replaced the muds with timber. Even though it cost me an approximately higher cost of KES 42000. I find it attractive, strong, and no longer eats my time up in frequent renovations. I also managed to spend the remaining amo8unt on purchasing clothes worth KES 3000, a sack of maize worth KES 3300, and saved the remaining amount for my future use.
Enrolled
access_time over 2 years ago
What does receiving this money mean to you?
Receiving this money means quality education for my children. I have one child, in University and 4 in primary school. I depend on my husband for everything in the household and the little he gets from casual jobs are not enough to sustain the family and pay for school fees. He gets around KES 300 daily which is too little to sustain a family of 6. I plan to use KES 60,000 for school fees and for the remaining I will buy a dairy cow worth KES 40,000 since I do not have one.
What is the happiest part of your day?
The amount of rainfall in the last 3 months has been very high. I cultivated ¼ piece of land and planted sweet potatoes, vegetables, and beans. In the next month, I will have enough foodstuffs from the farm to sustain the family for the next two months and a surplus for sale.
What is the biggest hardship you've faced in your life?
One of the challenges I am currently facing is food insecurity. With a family of six and an average of KES.300 per day, we have not been able to buy all the necessities needed at the time. We sometimes skip some meals when we don't have enough foodstuffs. This is one thing that does not go down well with me. I feel bad when I can not give my children proper meals in a day.
