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 cooking porridge for my grandchildren with the handful of maize flour that was remaining. My grandchild came running towards me, shouting that I had received a text message. Upon checking, I realized I had received my first transfer. Wow! I jumped up and down in ecstasy and forget that I had placed a boiling pot of hot water on the fire. I quickly requested him to go withdraw the money and buy maize flour so that we could eat a heavy meal of Ugali.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life since you started receiving payments from GiveDirectly.
Having spent several days sleeping on empty stomachs and skipping meals with my family, the food I bought using the money from the transfer is the biggest difference I have had since I received the transfer. The situation has completely improved and we take two meals per day, unlike in the past few months.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
Surviving on half a cup of porridge is the new norm in my household. As a farmer, I no longer work on the farm due to the lack of rain, which has persisted for the last three years. Together with my daughter, we work on manual jobs in making and selling charcoal. Finding customers to sell the charcoal is increasingly becoming difficult due to low demand, forcing us to survive on debts. My situation with the debts has worsened over the last three months, limiting my access to buy food on credit. This situation has forced us to sleep hungry on most days (4 days a week) and survive on a cup of porridge each day. Therefore, when I received my transfer, I spent the entire amount of KES on buying 8 packets of maize flour to ease the hunger situation.
Enrolled
access_time over 2 years ago
What does receiving this money mean to you?
It is adding to 3 years now since I opted to sleep on the floor because I lack money to buy even a bed. For the local roped-bed, I do not find it as an option too because it will also mean daily body pain due to lack of mattress. When I heard GiveDirectly's cash grant, I felt like a savior has come for my rescue. I am so positive about living a better life because I intend to buy a modern bed and a mattress and this will enable me to spend my nights so comfortably. On the other hand, I will also be able to get other necessities like food and to construct a better house. Thus, reshaping my livelihood for the better is what receiving this money means to me.
What is the happiest part of your day?
Despite the many strains in life, I am so thankful to God for the good health that I am granted day by day. In the last 6 months, I have never complained of sickness despite my vulnerability in age, 87 years. This is something I can not take for granted and thus my source of joy.
What is the biggest hardship you've faced in your life?
Financial constraints is what I am struggling with most. This is because I am very old, 87 years and I can not perform any income-generating activity. This has forced me to depend on my son who is doing charcoal work, a job that can not sustain us fully. Since he has other responsibilities for his household, I usually feel like a burden to him because he has to balance how to support me and his family.
