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.
Describe the moment when you received your money. How did you feel?
I was at home that morning with my daughter when I received a message on my phone from GiveDirectly. Being unable to read and interpret the information in it, I had to pass the phone to my daughter and helper to read. I was shocked when she started shouting since I could not tell that she was celebrating something. I had to get closer, and after confirming what she had seen, she confirmed that it was the money we were promised from GiveDirectly. I thanked God when I just heard that and told my daughter to trace the paper that we had enlisted all we needed to do before we withdraw the money.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life since you started receiving payments from GiveDirectly.
The biggest diffence in my daily life after receiving and spending the first transfer is the hybrid heifer I obtained. This has given me hope of getting enough milk and stoping the costly spending on buying. I had been accumulating debts with the neighbors who had been lucky to be producing surplus milk for sale and since we have gotten used to obtaining in debt and paying later. A month hardly goes without a struggle to settle that debt, but I am now grateful that the solution is with us.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
On receiving the transfer, I had a lot lined up that I have been contemplating on the best way to complete since I had been dependant on farming to cover household bills. I managed to obtain a heifer at KES20000 with the hope of solving the high cost I have been incurring in buying milk from my neighbors. With the farming practice that I had been doing, I also needed to ready my farm for planting. Tilling cost 3000 KES to prepare the land, KES5000 for fertilizer, and KES 1000 for the seeds. I needed to upgrade my farming and venture into maize production as I had been buying them due to the poor performance every time I plant on my farms. With KES4000 of the transfer, I also purchased a sack of maize, clothing with KEs 3000, and finally used the remaining amount on sourcing construction materials for the house I am currently constructing. I managed to purchase 14 iron sheets, nails, and also building posts.
Enrolled
access_time almost 3 years ago
What does receiving this money mean to you?
I live in a single room old grass-thatched house that is becoming uncomfortable to live in since it needs the roof to be replaced yearly which is becoming expensive for me and tiring each time I have to do it. To be receiving this money means I will be able to construct two houses a living house and a kitchen. I am planning to spend KES50000 to build these houses thus I will leave a new life in a more comfortable house and I will be able to harvest clean rainwater a dream I have had for a long. I wish to use KES20000 to buy a heifer to add to my heard. I will be able to have more milk for my household consumption and sales for extra income besides the offspring that I will rely on any financial crisis arising in my family. I planning to spent KES35000 on my family basic needs mainly my eye medication, food and clothing.
What is the happiest part of your day?
I primarily depend on subsistence farming to meet my family's needs. The happiest part of my day is in the mid-morning since this is the time I am fully engaged on the farm thus I am assured that I will have my daily bread or cultivate more for my family's future needs.
What is the biggest hardship you've faced in your life?
Lack of enough resources has been my biggest hardship in life. I live a hand-to-mouth life depending on subsistence farming in my family. I was not able to educate my children enough to earn good jobs that we can rely on due to this same problem of scarce resources.
