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 biggest difference in your daily life.
Before the coming of GiveDirectly in my life, my children have been staying home because of the huge school fees balances. Since we are ten wives and I am the fifth one, our spouse was old and jobless. I had to struggle on my own. It was so difficult for me because I had to strain and make sure my Children get food and as well as taking then to school. It reached a point, my elder daughter had to quit school so that he can help me in meeting the family's basic needs. Life was so tough, the little I was earning from the casual jobs, I had to share among my eight children who are schooling and it was not enough. They were always sent home to collect school fees, and this resulted in poor performance since they were missing a lot. Having cleared their huge fee balances, it has brought the biggest difference in my daily life. They are now studying without any disturbances, and I don't have to struggle like before. My wish is always to see them getting better education together with their future generation.
Describe the moment when you received your money. How did you feel?
It was around 6 am when I head my phone ringing. When I checked what the message was all about, I realized it was an M-pesa message from GiveDirectlt indicating that they had debited my first transfer on my account. I was very happy at the moment and could not explain it.
What did you spend your first transfer on?
I spent part f my first transfer on buying an ox at KES 15000. I opted to buy it because it would help me with my farming activities. My co-wife had also bough one ox so our plan was to combine them and plough our farm one after the other. I then cleared school fees for my children and bought some new school uniforms for them, the previous ones were old and torn. The remaining amount of money, I bought some household items that I was lacking, in addition to that, I bought enough foodstuffs for my family because we have been starving.
Enrolled
access_time over 4 years ago
What does receiving this money mean to you?
My desire is to provide an education for my children so that they can have better opportunities in life. Receiving this money means I will be able to educate my eight children in school with much ease. First, I will clear their fee balances then secondly buy assets such as livestock that can be sold off later to further facilitate their studies.
What is the happiest part of your day?
Evening is my best part of the day because all my children are home from school. They help me with chores such as preparing dinner and washing the dishes.
What is the biggest hardship you've faced in your life?
Inadequate finances to educate my children is my greatest challenge. I have 8 children in school and each requires an average of 700 shillings every three months. I burn charcoal to earn income and I make an average of 1000 shillings a month to cater for not only their education but also food, clothing, water, medication etc. This has led to an accumulation of debt in the school and they might not be permitted to do their end of year examination in October.
