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 ($460 USD)
access_time over 2 years ago
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How is your life different than it would have been if you never received the transfer?
After utilizing the second transfer, I developed another goal of keeping livestock. This is because I came to realize goats have a ready market and they can be converted to monetary value if need arises since they are affordable.
In your opinion, what does GiveDirectly do well, and what does it not do well?
In my opinion, GiveDirectly is a life-uplifting organization that empowers people to do things that they were initially unable to do due to lack of money. For me, I was able to pay school fees for my children and bought some goats which was my desire. Currently, I took a break from the tiresome charcoal making work which I used to do to get some food.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
Upon withdrawing the second transfer money, I opted to add stock to my charcoal business that I started using the first transfer from GiveDirectly. The stock addition cost KES 20000.00. I also bought three goats for KES 12000.00 and paid KES 1500.00 school for my two primary school children. Having done that I opted to use the remaining amount for the family upkeep.
Initial Payment
Transfer Amount
55000 KES ($486 USD)
access_time almost 3 years ago
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Describe the moment when you received your money. How did you feel?
I was still on my bed at around 9 AM when I heard a message notification. Since I am illiterate, I asked my son to check who might have sent the message at that time. When he checked the message, I realized it was an Mpesa message from Segovia Technology. I had at long last received my first KES 55000 that I had anxiously been waiting for. I was so happy and I couldn't sleep afterward. I kept on thinking of how I would use the money without wasting a single coin. I thank God for bringing this organization to our village.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life since you started receiving payments from GiveDirectly.
The biggest difference in my daily life is that through the transfers, I was able to boost my charcoal business. This has been my major source of income for so many years. Being a widow, I have been the family's breadwinner and I have been raising my four children without any help from my in-laws. Life has been so tough and it had reached a point whereby, we consumed the profits because our needs were more than our source of income. I could no longer restock therefore the only option was to close it down. I am so thankful to GiveDirectly for the financial support because were it not for them, the business would have collapsed. I now have enough stock which results in good returns and very stable than before. For now, I can pay school fees for my children and comfortably cater to other basic needs like food and clothing without straining.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
I spent a huge part of my first transfer on boosting my business of buying and selling charcoal in town. The business was almost collapsing and I had we had no means to revive it because I had utilized all the capital and profits. I also cleared school fees of KES 2000 for my two children and they are now studying without any distractions like before. This is a motivation to them one can tell from their faces every morning. Lastly, with the remaining money, I bought decent clothes for my children and enough foodstuff that would at least take us to the next harvesting season. We are now healthy and energetic because we no longer skip meals as before courtesy of GiveDirectly.
Enrolled
access_time 3 years ago
What does receiving this money mean to you?
My daughter did her Kenya Certificate of Primary Education ( KCPE ) last year, but did not perform well. This was due to Covid 19 because after it emerged learning stopped and affected them seriously. This has hindered her from joining secondary school. Her ambition has to go to vocational college so that she can take beauty course. Receiving this money means fulfilling it. I am intending to disburse KES 50,000 to pay for all the school fees. Dreaming that she will finish and get employed or employee herself and assist us too. Additional, I will invest the remaining amount of transfer to extend 1 room because the house we are currently in is very small.
What is the happiest part of your day?
I have been having backbones pains for almost a whole year. This problem had extremely disturbed me and hampered me the chance to perform my common duties. Lucky enough, my uncle took me to a certain hospital for medication and after treatment, I was healed. This brought joy to my life because I can perform any task without any complications.
What is the biggest hardship you've faced in your life?
Water scarcity is the biggest hardship I am currently facing. It has been 6 months since we receive rain in our areas. Nowadays, I have to wake up at midnight every day and walk 40 minutes distance and go and wait for water as it flows out from the ground. There is a certain well that has remained the only hope for the whole village. Due to the high water demand, you have to queue and wait for your turn to fetch sometimes I spend almost 8 hours waiting which hinders me from performing other tasks such as burning charcoal to provide for my family other needs such as food.
