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 had a Mpesa loan and as I was relaxing, I got a message indicating that my debt had been cleared. I did not know who had sent me the money nor the amount received since I did not receive any Mpesa message. When I met with one of my friends, I informed him what had happened and he informed me that GiveDirectly transfers had been sent. It was at this time that I decided to check my Mpesa balance and I became so happy on realizing that the money was indeed from them because of the account balance that I had. My family members became so happy and we knew that GiveDirectly was indeed a faithful organization that fulfills its promises.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life since you started receiving payments from GiveDirectly.
My life has never been the same since I have been able to add a dairy cow to my herd. This is an investment that will increase over time as it is almost calving. This will lead to an increase in milk production which will, in turn, lead to an increase in my income. I am a bodaboda rider and I usually earn around KES 500 on a good day and this was not always enough to use in paying school fees for my children and to meet our basic needs. With the increase in the income from my dairy project, I am hopeful that I will not struggle so much in meeting these needs when my children join secondary school.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
I live in a small grass-thatched house with my spouse and five children and I am forced to change the roof every year to avoid it from leaking. In addition, my children always have to sleep in my brother's house as they're all grown and we can no longer sleep with them under the same roof. Aside from this, two of my children will be joining secondary school level this year and I am foreseeing myself struggling financially to pay their school fees. This had always made me yearn on adding more livestock since they come in handy when faced with financial constraints. I am happy that GiveDirectly made me actualize my dreams since I was able to spend KES 30000 to buy a dairy cow and KES 17000 to purchase 26 pieces of iron sheets to use in renovating our house and use some in building a house for my children. Using the remaining KES 8000, I used KES 5000 to repay a debt that I had and the remaining amount on food.
Enrolled
access_time over 2 years ago
What does receiving this money mean to you?
Receiving this money means a improved living standard of my family. I depend on dairy farming as a source of income which I thank God it has been doing well. I plan to use around KES 30,000 to add another dairy cow. This will increase my income in future so to meet school fees for my 3 children who are about to join secondary level. The remaining amount I will use in building a house to my grown up sons and other family basic needs.
What is the happiest part of your day?
In the last six months my dairy cow gave birth and this brought joy to my family. We thank God for this since the burden of purchasing milk will be now over. I will sell the surplus to milk traders so to assist us meet other family basic needs.
What is the biggest hardship you've faced in your life?
The challenge we are currently facing is a house for my grown up son. In our culture once a son is circumcised, he suppose to sleep in a separated house from others. For some years now, they have been seeking accommodation from my neighbours. I have not managed to build before because of unstable source of income. The one I get from sell of milk goes only meeting family basic needs and school fees for them. As a parent I have not been at peace since I can not have closing monitoring.
