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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 > Nora's Profile
Nora's family
Nora
landscapeCountry:
kenya
workOccupation:
Subsistence farming
faceAge:
32
workCampaign
Kenya Large Transfer
There will be no further updates from this completed recipient.
2nd Payment
Transfer Amount
53150 KES ($430 USD)
access_time almost 2 years ago
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How is your life different than it would have been if you never received the transfer?
My goal is to take my child to secondary school . He scored averagely in his K.C.P.E and I'll be so happy to finally enrol him in secondary school . He has already received a calling letter and is supposed to join on 23rd of this month , I'll need approximately $100 to be able to enrol him . So , I plan to sell 1 of the goats that I bought recently but my worry is that their prices have since dropped to almost a half . I'm trusting in God that I'll achieve this .
In your opinion, what does GiveDirectly do well, and what does it not do well?
You know I'm laughing throughout our conversation because Give Directly has become my best friend . You helped people in this village and we are all happy . We have build good houses , paid school fees for our children , other people have even bought pieces of land while others have built shops and started businesses . Personally I had not bought myself a new dress for a long time , thanks to Give Directly , because I bought one . There is nothing to improve , you did everything correctly .
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
My husband and I assist each other in fending for our family of 8 children . He owns an electronics repair shop while I own a grocery shop , I also sell street food like 'githeri' . I really wanted to start goat keeping , so I spent $180 on 2 does which were being sold at $90 each . The does have since given birth and I'm already enjoying their milk . Later I can sell their kids when financial needs arise . I didn't have a water storage tank and this made me suffer during drought seasons , so I spent $30 on a 320 litre water tank . Also I used to feel embarrassed because my house had old fashioned chairs , I'm happy I was able to buy modern 6-seater sofa sets which did cost $50 . Right now my house looks presentable . So I took the old chairs to my kitchen and we now have enough space to sit while cooking . My 2 children who are in secondary school had arrears of $240 which I cleared . Finally I bought a nice dress worth $10 for myself because it had been long since I wore a new dress . Thank you so much Give Directly because without your money , I would have not achieved all these . May God bless you .
 
Initial Payment
Transfer Amount
55000 KES ($482 USD)
access_time over 2 years ago
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Describe the moment when you received your money. How did you feel?
It was around 5:30 pm. I was at the farm. Before I got there, I had heard people in my neighborhood saying that they had received the transfers. I hence kept on eagerly waiting for it. Suddenly, when I got to the farm, my phone rang hence notifying me of a new message. I immediately çhecked it and wow! it was the message saying that I had also received the promised transfer of KES 55000 from GiveDirectly. I was so happy on seeing this that I immediately called my husband to inform him of what had transpired. He was so happy too and he came home as soon as possible. We now knew that our children will be able to go back to school and study well.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life since you started receiving payments from GiveDirectly.
The biggest difference that the transfer brought into our lives is that we were able to clear the school fees balances for our children and hence they were able to go back to school after staying home for a while. It was a big relief to us having achieved that. They have hence been able to concentrate on their studies. Other than that, the children are also happy because they got new clothes for themselves. We are thus happy and grateful to GiveDirectly for everything they have done for us.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
We spent KES 36000 of the recent transfer money on paying school fees for our three children who are in secondary school. We paid KES 12000 for each one of them and we managed to clear the arrears. They had stayed for a while at home due to the balances and we did not know where we were going to get the money to pay for them the school fees. We do not have stable sources of income since I usually practice small-scale subsistence farming while my husband depends on casual jobs such as repairing broken radios to get money. We are glad that the transfer from GiveDirectly came through and the children were able to go back to school. We also spent another KES 7640 on buying two chairs and their cushions. We bought the chairs because we did not have any. Other than this, we also bought 2 bags of maize at a total cost of KES 7200 for our consumption. We are a family of ten people and we usually incur a lot of costs buying maize since maize crops do not usually do well when planted due to some disease that usually affects it. We also bought a water container at KES 3000 and with the remaining amount of money, we used it in buying clothes for the children. Thank you so much GiveDirectly for your big help.
 
Enrolled
access_time almost 3 years ago
 
What does receiving this money mean to you?
Good and quality education is what I always desire for all my 8 children. The eldest one is in third year, 2 in second year and one in first year all in secondary receiving this money means all my school going children will be able to go to school and progress well with their education. It has been difficult to sustain them continuously in school and are now at home after being sent home to collect school fees which we do not have. I am a stay at home mother and my husband is a electrical technician at a mobile phone repairs shop but he earns KES 250 per day which is hardly enough to cater for all our basic needs such as food and school fees. It saddens me alot seeing them at home because they miss their classroom sessions which negatively affects their performance. I plan on spending KES 16,000 to clear school fees in arrears and pay KES 48,000 for next academic year which starts in 3 months. This will give us relaxation my children will lead a better life eventually.
What is the happiest part of your day?
In the past 6 months, we were lucky to get school bursary funds from the government and we were able to settle the huge school fees arrears. The school fees arrears had accumulated up to KES 25,000 of all my secondary school-going children and I got KES 7,000 from the bursary which was a great boost to support one of them. This brought happiness to our lives because she was able to study without much struggle.
What is the biggest hardship you've faced in your life?
My husband does mobile phone repairs at a shop in the nearest town and uses the money that he gets from that job to feed our 8 children and also uses some amount from the job to pay their school fees. We still have arrears and our 4 children are home for failure to pay it. Issues with finances has been my biggest challenge and I resorted to doing casual jobs to support him.