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Janet

Country:

kenya

Occupation:

Raising livestock

Age:

Campaign

Kenya Large Transfer

Upcoming Stage

Next Payment

Follow to be updated on Janet's next check-in.

Initial Payment

Transfer Amount

20000 KES ($155 USD)

1 month ago

Describe the moment when you received your money. How did you feel?

I had attended a burial in the nearby village. As we were finishing the ceremony, I heard a message buzz on my phone. I checked immediately, as some of my neighbors we were with had received their transfers from GiveDirectly, and I saw that I had received it as well. I was filled with happiness. I could not wait to get home and share the good news with my husband and my children. My first thought was to buy food for us, as getting food at that time was a problem. Thank you, GiveDirectly

Describe the biggest difference in your daily life since you started receiving payments from GiveDirectly.

After we were affected by the recent floods, things became tough. To get back on our feet, I planted maize, but it wasn’t ready for harvest yet. To put food on the table, we relied on casual jobs, which were not reliable; sometimes, I would go days without work. The days we had complete meals were precious moments for us, as they were rare. GiveDirectly brought us hope; getting my first transfer was a blessing. I bought food that sustained us until our maize was ready for harvest, and honestly, since then, we have never skipped a meal, and I haven’t had to worry about food again. Thank you, GiveDirectly!

What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?

With my first transfer, I prioritized buying food for us, as my maize was still unripe and we had to purchase our meals. I bought 45 kg of maize for $30 to sustain us, and I also bought other food items, such as milk and beans, for $50. Additionally, during the floods, water came into our house. We had to run for our lives. When we returned after temporarily relocating, everything was ruined. My children were left without a mattress, a bed, or enough clothes, as theirs were ruined by the floods. It pained me as a mother to see them sleeping on rugs on the floor and wearing almost the same pair of clothes. I couldn’t do anything about it since I had limited income; all I relied on were casual jobs, which earned me $3 a day, and it was not consistent. I purchased a mattress, a bed, and clothes for my children, which cost $40, $30, and $50, respectively with the remaining money. Thank you, GiveDirectly, for the support!

Enrolled

4 months ago

What do you plan to do with the cash transfer?

Receiving the cash transfers from Givedirectly means so much to me. Since the recent flood led to the distraction of our farm and household goods such as utensils and clothes, I plan to use the first KES 20000 cash transfers to purchase food such as maize, beans and rice. Additionally, I will purchase clothes for my family members and also utensils. This will cost me about KES 13000 of the cash transfer. For the second cash transfer I intend to purchase a plot of land in an area that is not prone to floods. I intend to use KES 45000 on this. This is very important for me because after the recent floods I was left worrying about the wellbeing of my family members and having a desire to look for a plot in another safe area. With the third cash transfer I will use about KES 20000 to complete the purchase of the piece of land and for the remaining KES 25000, I plan to purchase building materials and also use part of the money to move my current house to the new location. This will significantly change my life and that of my family's since we will live without worry of getting affected by the flood Waters. I'm grateful for the cash transfers from Give Directly since it will make my dream of living in a safe location come true.

What is the happiest part of your day?

My happiness over the past 6 months came from the current rains we have received. Despite the fact that the rains brought flood water that destroyed our houses and farms, I was really delighted because of the fact that we will have a chance to do farming since we depend on irrigation to grow crops. In addition to this, the coming of the rains has enabled us to grow vegetables further reducing our burden of purchasing food which has made me so happy.

What is the biggest hardship you've faced in your life?

The challenge I'm facing currently is the lack of food for my family. I had grown a 2 hector maize farm, however, when flood water came my whole farm got destroyed. This left us without food since we depended on the produce from the farm. This has left us desperate because we cannot afford to purchase food on a daily basis since we depend on occasional casual labor which is not enough to purchase food and other household goods. This has left my husband and I hopeless about the future and I feel stressed up especially whenever my children go hungry without food.