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?
We have been living in a one room house which acts as our kitchen, living room and bedroom at night. I had no hopes of building a bigger house anytime soon since the meager salary I get from doing odd jobs around the neighborhood is not even enough for our basic needs like food and clothing. Receiving the transfers made me a more lively person as it gave me hope that I would be able to build a spacious house and enjoy some privacy like some of my peers.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life since you started receiving payments from GiveDirectly.
Before receiving the transfers, I had always been ashamed to mingle with some of my peers. This is because I always felt that they were ahead of me in life as most of them were not sleeping in the same room with their children. The transfers enabled me to build a more spacious iron-roofed house for my family something I never thought I would ever accomplish in life. This is because the task of educating my children and meeting my family's needs on time had weighed me down. Also, having some assets that I can easily convert to cash when faced with financial challanges is a source of happiness to me.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
When I received my transfer, I spent USD 390 to build a more spacious house for my family. I settled on this since the one we had was grass thatched and small hence could not accommodate us comfortably. Due to this, we had no privacy as parents since we used to sleep in the same room with our children. Also, I bought two goats at USD 80. These are investments to me that I can depend on in case of financial crisis especially in paying school fees for my children. I spent the remaining USD 80 on food and other household necessities.
Enrolled
access_time over 3 years ago
What does receiving this money mean to you?
I currently work as a herdsman for a neighbour who owns a large flock of sheep and goats.I have done this job for over 10 years and at this point I can confidently say that if I had my own,I would already know how to tend them and what to look out for in terms of diseases and even breeding.I have always hoped that someday I will be herding my own flock-and I think my "someday" is already here thanks to GiveDirectly.I will actualize this dream by buying 10 goats for Sh 40000.In the next six months,they will have doubled according to my projection and this means that even the living standards of my family will improve significantly.Aside from this,my family lives in one hut and this is a good time to also build an iron-roofed house for us.I have not been able to do this previously because the little money I earn is not even sufficient to cover all the basic needs for a family of 5.
What is the happiest part of your day?
I spend a good part of my day out in the field herding.This means that am away from my young family all day.In the evening,I return home to the happy embrace of my three young children.We spend the rest of the evening chatting and this is often the moment I look forward to each day.This therefore makes evening the happiest part of my day.
What is the biggest hardship you've faced in your life?
The biggest hardship I have faced is providing the most basic need for my family-food.With my current pay of Sh 4000 per month,I am not able to sufficiently feed them as well as provide all the other basic needs.It has also not enabled me to have any asset base as all the earnings are consumed as they come.Even though we have an acre of land for farming,we have not been able to get a harvest for five years now due to prolonged drought and crop diseases.This only means that food can only be availed by buying and this is very costly
