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 ($421 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?
I have a new goal to start a small business that will support my family alongside my husbands’ little income. With this, I will be able to help my husband in catering to our basic needs.
In your opinion, what does GiveDirectly do well, and what does it not do well?
GiveDirectly's help was genuine and the enrollment process was fair to the point that nobody needed to pay anything to the staff to be selected. I have nothing against the project, but I would be grateful if we could get an addition to help with the high cost of living.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
My household has been depending on my husband who is employed as a security watchman to provide for all our basic needs since I am not working. With our second transfer, I spent $400 to purchase one dairy cow that has been producing milk and thus saved me from buying milk daily. I have been selling to my neighbors the excess milk and using the money to buy food and other household stuff for daily use. Two of my three children who are in school had a fee balance of $100 that I cleared with part of the transfer. With the remaining $30, I replenished depleted foodstuff in the household. My family has benefitted immensely from GiveDirectly's generous cash assistance, which I am grateful for.
Initial Payment
Transfer Amount
55000 KES ($466 USD)
access_time over 2 years ago
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Describe the moment when you received your money. How did you feel?
I felt so much happy when I received money from GiveDirectly. It was around 5:00 pm when we received the money and the first person that I informed was my husband who was not at home as at that moment. He was equally very happy to have been part of the beneficiaries of the program.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life since you started receiving payments from GiveDirectly.
The biggest difference in my daily life is the Ii nvestnents that I have made from improving my house to buying household furniture. The debts that we settled have given us peace of mind.We no longer live in fear of people who may come and ask for their monies anytime like we used to do before.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
I used KES 20000 to improve my house by fixing windows and purchasing some furniture. I used another KES 10000 to pay debts owed to us before by some people who once they heard we had received money came asking for it. The remaining amount of money was used to buy other basic household needs. We coumd not be able to accomplish all these because we did not have enough money from our casual work to be able to accomplish them.
Enrolled
access_time over 2 years ago
What does receiving this money mean to you?
I am a mother of two primarily depending on casual jobs to make ends meet. It is through this that I have been able to feed my family and meet other needs. I used to love maize farming until it was adversely affected by a micro-organic disease. I reduced it and diverted it to livestock keeping. I currently own two dairy cows producing more than ten liters a day. I earn approximately KES 400 a day from milk sales in addition to having some liters of milk for household consumption. It has always been my aim that I expand it to assure me milk production throughout the year. This cash transfer means answered prayers. I am planning to use KES 40000 to buy a dairy cow. This is an added asset to my family and with time I will have more milk for sale. This will bring us higher income and prolong our milk production across the year making it more reliable for us.
What is the happiest part of your day?
Farming is my main economic activity. I practice mixed farming to enhance my income. I used to love maize farming since it used to do better than other crops and livestock keeping. In the last ten years, maize has not been doing well due to maize disease and low rainfall in our area. This forced me to divert much of my attention and resources to livestock keeping. In the last six months, I attribute my happiness to my two dairy cows. I have been producing milk all through from my farm. This enables me to meet daily household needs.
What is the biggest hardship you've faced in your life?
Food shortage is the main challenge I am facing. Maize is our stable food and since our climate and soul support it, I used to farm it more than anything else. After the outbreak of maize disease ten years ago, I have not harvested enough again. I get approximately a sack or two from a half an acre piece of land. This last us for a short season.
