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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3rd Payment
Transfer Amount
50000 KES ($492 USD)
access_time almost 5 years ago
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How is your life different than it would have been if you never received the transfer?
If I had never received the transfer, I could still be stuck in a life of low income from a small fish business that could barely cater to my needs. I would also still be living a pathetic lifestyle without the basic household and personal requirements such as a bed, a table or decent clothing. All these have now changed because the transfer enabled me to boost my previous business and even start an extra business on second-hand clothing which means more income. I have also managed to buy most of the household items I lacked and I now feel more comfortable welcoming guests into my house without being embarrassed like was the case before.
Do you have any new or additional goals for your life?
I do not have any additional goals at the moment other than to keep working hard to grow my businesses for a better future. I was able to purchase most of the household I needed with part of the transfers, so I do not have to worry about spending my savings on such items.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
I used part of the money I recently received to boost my fish and clothes businesses by adding more stock for better profits, paid my rent and purchased other household and personal requirements such as a table, gas refill, clothes and shoes. I also gifted some of the money to my siblings to enable them to boost their businesses and to take care of their personal needs as well.
2nd Payment
Transfer Amount
37152 KES ($360 USD)
access_time 5 years ago
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How is your life different than it would have been if you never received the transfer?
I have been having the fish mongering business for two years now. Since I started it with a small capital, it has not been doing very well as I would want to. It has also been my main source of income which is another reason why I could not develop it to the extent I would have loved. This is because I used to take resources from the business to meet my personal and family needs and could not input more. When I received my first transfer, I used part of it to boost the business by adding more stock to the business. It is now doing well and I thank God for the transfers from GD. It has really eased my financial burden through the profits.
Do you have any new or additional goals for your life?
My new goal is to start a shoe business. Currently, I only depend on a small income from my fish mongering business which is not much. I would want to have an improved income from the profits hence I want to venture into another business to help me expand my income.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
I spent my transfer on boosting my fish mongering business which was not doing well at that time. It has been my main source of income and my whole family needs depend on it. I decided to boost it so that I could get improved profits so as to enable me to meet my family financial needs and demands in time. The rest of the transfer I have saved which will help me give my family the best during the festive season and even pay part of their fees arrears at the beginning of next year.
Initial Payment
Transfer Amount
20000 KES ($193 USD)
access_time over 5 years ago
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Do you have any new goals that you didn't have before receiving the transfer?
My new goal is to start a business for my sister. She has a talent of making appealing hairstyles. She normally walks from door to door looking for customers so that she can plait their hair. This is normally hectic because she spends more time searching for customers. I would want her to rent a small shop and establish a saloon business. This will definitely attract more customers compared to when she provides door to door plaiting services.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life since you started receiving payments from GiveDirectly.
The biggest difference in my daily life ever since I started receiving transfers from GiveDirectly is that I am more ambitious and hopeful in life. I managed to boost my business using the transfer. I normally sell fish. I am happy that my customers are able to get the big fish that was on demand. My income has now increased because I now bring what most of my customers prefer. I am even planning to expand my business and start bringing other products. I know that my life will never be the same because I am now financially stable. I can only thank Give Directly for the support and kind gesture to our neighborhood.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
I spent part of my transfer to boost my business. I normally sell fish. Since it is the only source of income, I could strain my profits to an extent that the business almost collapsed. My customers could demand the big fish and in large quantities but I was not in a position to bring such due lack of enough money. I am glad that it is now doing well after boosting it using the transfers. Apart from that, I also paid school fees for my brother who had been sent home due to fee arrears. He had been on and off of school because the profits that I got from the business was not enough to cater for our household needs and still pay his school fees. He was almost missing his final exams. I thank God because the money came in handy. I finally managed to pay rent that I had defaulted for two months.
Describe the moment when you started receiving transfers. How did you feel?
When I woke up that day, I found a message on my phone. I was almost sure that it was a message from the mobile service providers reminding me to pay my loan but when I read the message in details, I realized that it was from GiveDirectly informing me that they had sent the first transfers. I was very happy having received good news in the morning. I knew that I will be able to settle the loan and achieve my other goals easily.
Enrolled
access_time over 5 years ago
What do you plan to do with the cash transfer?
My first priority is to expand my fish business. I am a fish monger here in Mathare, I will use the transfer to open a small hotel for selling cooked take away fish and chips. It has been my dream to open a hotel. I want to open the hotel in Eastleigh because people their appreciate this service. My finances will grow and I will be able to cater for most of my family's needs.
My second priority is to open a new business of selling second hand clothes. I find it easier to hawk the clothes because this way I will be able to not sleep angry because I will have more customers that way. Income from selling clothes will enable me to save for future investments.
My third priority is to use this transfer to pay school fees for m children. I am a single mother and often at times I am forced to borrow loans just to pay for my children's school fees. Their us an instance when the stayed home for more than two weeks because I was not able to pay for their fees. They missed on a lot of school activities and that time can not be recovered. I felt that I had failed as a parent
Describe your biggest worry.
My top concern is being in debt. My business of selling fish has not picked up much profit, so my income is still little. I have to plan well so that my needs are met with the little income I get. Because of this I am forced to borrow loans from friends, I also delay on pay school fees for my children and even paying my house rent in time. I once was in a lot of debt and I owed both my landlord and the school quite a large amount of money. The landlord almost locked us out, my children had to spend about two weeks at home due to lack of school fees. As a parent I felt disappointed in my self for not being able to be responsible for their educational needs and they missed out on a lot of school activities as well.
What are your greatest ambitions?
My ambition is to be a successful business lady. I want to grow my hotel business to food chains and fish will be the delicacy on every menu. I also want to prosper in my business of selling clothes and to be able to generate enough income to cover for my family's needs.
As a single mother it is very difficult to raise children on my own. I see other famines going better in life because they are a whole family unit and they look down on me as a single parent, they sometimes say that children raised with single mother's do not turn out to be successful and this hurts me as a parent. I want the best for my children, for them to attend school everyday, find good jobs in future and change the perspective on single parenting here in the slums.
Describe your usual day. How do you spend your time?
On my usual day,I wake up as early as 6 O'clock in the morning, prepare my children to school, cook breakfast then take them to school. After that I go back home and start my house chores until around 9:00am when I head to Gikomba market to buy my fish stock. Since the market is normally full I take quite sometime to search for the best fish vendors. I come back home eat lunch then start preparing the fish by cleaning and removing the scales from the fish. After they are all cleaned up I head to buy charcoal for cooking.
At around 5:00pm in the evening I start cooking and selling the fish up to around 10 o'clock or 9 o'clock at night depending on how busy the night is. I go back home, prepare supper then retire to bed.
During my free time I normally do thorough cleaning of my house then spend time with my sister and chat about different events.
