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?
It was early in the morning when I heard the message notification on my mobile phone. When I checked what the message was all about, I realized it was an Mpesa message from GiveDirectly informing me that they had sent my first transfer as they had promised during enrollment. I felt so happy for the transfers that I had just received.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life since you started receiving payments from GiveDirectly.
My life is different than it would have been if I never received the transfer in that I would not have been in a position to build a house. Before, I used to live in a house which was almost collapsing and during rainy periods I would keep my belonging at one corner which was much safer. Now I am happy that I got a decent house which is more secure and much comfortable.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
I have been struggling to raise money to build a house to live. I was however not successful as I wasn't able to raise enough money to build a new house. My life is currently different because after receiving the financial support from GiveDirectly, I purchased enough building materials and built a decent house. Again, I bought a sheep and buy some food.
Enrolled
access_time 4 years ago
What does receiving this money mean to you?
I live in a grass thatched house that I built several years ago. The house is very old, not spacious enough and heavily infested with termites that have rendered it very weak. I intend to use my first transfer to construct a nice house for my family to live in and for my grand child to have his private room to study as he is in secondary school. I will use my second transfer to lease land and cultivate crops for both subsistence and commercial use. The remaining balance will be for the purchase of young cattle to raise it as an investment for future use.
What is the happiest part of your day?
My usual day entails waking up very early in the morning, carry out my normal household chores and herd my cattle in the nearby grazing fields. My happiest part of the day comes by in the evening when I milk my cattle and the milk production is adequate enough to cater for my family's needs.
What is the biggest hardship you've faced in your life?
My daughter passed on in the year 2003 and left behind a grand child whom I have been taking care of him since I had made a promise to her to do so. With dependency on casual jobs, providing basic necessities including education to this boy has been an uphill task for me. I have had to engage myself into hard labour in order to cater for him. Now he is in secondary school level and I intend to see him through his education.
