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 ($465 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?
I depend on subsistence farming and it is affected mostly by changes in climatic conditions. It is my wish to start practicing zero grazing since animal feeds can be stored for a long time without going bad. I have three cows and their milk production is low, and I am planning to sell them and use the money to acquire a better breed whose milk production is a bit high. With this, I will be selling the surplus and use the money to cater to our basic needs and in paying school fees for our children.
In your opinion, what does GiveDirectly do well, and what does it not do well?
GiveDirectly did well in all aspects of their operations. First, their officers spoke with a lot of respect and trained us well before receiving the transfers. They treated us equally during the enrollment process and every household in the village received the same amount of money. I do not see anything that it did not do well.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
I bought a water tank with a capacity of 3000 liters at KES 23000 and used the remaining amount on some furniture that I did not have, clothes, and food for the family upon receiving my transfer. I will be using the water tank to harvest rainwater for domestic use, especially during the dry season. This is the time that I usually spend more hours going to fetch water from the river since one trip takes at least an hour and I have to make several trips per day.
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?
The moment I received the transfer I felt so happy. I remember vividly like yesterday that it was around 9:43am. I was doing my chore at home. I heard a ringtone message from my phone. When I checked it I couldn't believe my eyes because I have never received such amount of money that. I felt so happy and immediately rush to inform my spouse. He was also so happy. We knew we would be able to buy a dairy cow because that was our first priority. We went to withdrew the money together and planned on purchasing a dairy cow among other things. We are so grateful for the support because GiveDirectly has changed our living standard.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life since you started receiving payments from GiveDirectly.
The biggest difference in my daily life is that I have bought a dairy cow. I used to buy milk daily and this was so costly for me. I was spending KES 60 per day. I depend on small scale farming and the harvest that we get is only for consumption. I had no other source of income. My spouse is a security guard in one of the private security company. The amount of money that he earns is also so small. We usually prioritized the household needs. We could not hardly save any money. When we received the first transfer I felt so happy because I knew I would be able to buy a dairy cow. Currently we no longer buy milk. We have enough for our family. We save the money that we could have used on milk to pay school fees for our children. I have devoted much of my time on my dairy cow. I ensure that I feed and give clean water to drink. I have hope that things gonna be much better than before. GiveDirectly has changed our living standard and given us hope to work much easier.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
I spent KES 37,00 to buy a dairy cow. I used to buy milk daily and this was so costly for me. I do not have a continuous source of income, I do small scale farming. I bought a table because I had always wished to own one but I had no money to buy. The rest of the money I bought food and clothes for my children. I am so grateful for the support because GiveDirectly has changed our living standard to be much better than before. It has given me hope to still strive for greatness.
Enrolled
access_time over 3 years ago
What does receiving this money mean to you?
Receiving this money means a better living standard for my family because I planing to invest this transfers in dairy farming. Before, I have been depending on subsistence farming but due to prolonged drought in my area it has not been doing well. God willing if I received this transfers I will purchase a dairy cow at 35,000 shillings. Also I am opting for this because currently we have a ready market since we have a near by milk cooler. This income will help me to raise school fees for my four children and also meet other family basic needs.
What is the happiest part of your day?
The happiest part of my day is in the evening. It is at this day because I get time to rest a bit. As a mother I have a lot of activities to do like household chores, preparing child to school, preparing their lunch on time and weeding my garden. This activities consumes a lot of energy and by evening I am very tired.
What is the biggest hardship you've faced in your life?
The biggest hardship we have faced in our family lack of stable source of income. We having been depending mainly on subsistence farming but we started experiencing prolonged drought life became difficult. Sometimes we could harvest none from our farm, it force us to starting doing casual jobs at least raise some money to buy food. It was not enough to sustain my family of six for food and school fees thus sometimes we could forgo some meals in a day.
