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.
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2nd Payment
Transfer Amount
53150 KES ($505 USD)
access_time over 4 years ago
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How is your life different than it would have been if you never received the transfer?
The biggest difference in my life is that I have been able to pay school fees for my children. One of them had been forced to discontinue his studies for one year due to a lack of school fees. He had always lived a stressful life and always reminding me that I had failed them in life. Due to this, I always felt that I was a terrible mother who could not afford to give her children the education they require. Seeing my children continue with their studies and being happy all the time has given me peace. I believe that I would not have been able to pay their school fees at my own cost and I thank GiveDirectly for enabling me to achieve this.
In your opinion, what does GiveDirectly do well, and what does it not do well?
In my opinion, GiveDirectly did well in all aspects of their operations. Also, they are peaceful people who treats everyone equally and I do not see anything that they did not do well.
What did you spend your second transfer on?
When I received my second transfer, I spent a good amount to pay school fees for my two children in tertiary institutions. Also, I spent some amount to buy a three-seater seat. I settled on this since we used to use a bench and it is not comfortable to sit on. Apart from this, I bought two sacks of maize and other household necessities that would last us for some time. I still have some amount that I am planning to use in case of an emergency.
Initial Payment
Transfer Amount
55000 KES ($547 USD)
access_time almost 5 years ago
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Describe the biggest difference in your daily life.
My daughter used to make applications to various nursing school and she always got a chance to be admitted. She, however, was not able to join since I did not have money to pay her school fees. I mainly depend on my farm for income but what I get from the farm is too little to afford her college fees. This has been troubling me for a while and it reached a point when my daughter thought that I did not want her to continue with her education and got angry with me. I am happy and hopeful now that her desire for joining will be finally fulfilled. I am also happy because I managed to buy a sheep that plan to rear, this will help whenever an emergency occurs by selling it.
Describe the moment when you received your money. How did you feel?
I was just preparing to wake up when my children broke the news that the money from GiveDirectly was finally here. I was so happy and excited. I knew immediately that my daughter would continue with her education.
What did you spend your first transfer on?
My daughter will be joining a nursing school next month, I, therefore, spent KSh.30000 of the first transfers to pay my daughter's college fees. I feel good to have made this move because she had lost hope and felt demoralized. Her peers were in college while others were working. It was as if her life had come to a stand still without hope making any progress. I thank Give Directly for helping me put a smile on my daughter's face. Apart from that, I also bought a sheep worth KSh.7000. I used the rest to buy food and other household items for my family.
Enrolled
access_time almost 5 years ago
What does receiving this money mean to you?
I sold all my cattle so that I could educate my children.I now have one cow which I borrowed from a relative.With the money from Give Directly I will buy one cow at a cost of Ksh.20,000(200 USD). This will boost my income since I will be able to sell milk.My second plan is starting poultry farming.I want to begin by putting up structures then buying 10 chicken. This will cost me approximately Ksh 10,000(100 USD)My target is getting eggs for sale. Finally I will build a one bedroom house made of timber. Maintaining my mud house has been a challenge especially now that I am aging.
What is the happiest part of your day?
I take a few of the morning hours working in my farm. I feel happy at this moment when I am busy. When I stop to rest I have back aches. It is usually worse during the night.The backaches are as a result of physical jobs I used to do.
What is the biggest hardship you've faced in your life?
Raising up my 10 children has not been easy.It became more difficult when I lost my husband 24 years ago.Educating them was the most difficult of all.I depended on casual labour to make money. With casual labour one earns very little.In a day I earned 2 USD or sometimes less. Casual jobs are very physical and at some point I had to start selling my property because I was not strong enough to do a lot of work.This is due to my age. I currently have back aches because of the physical jobs I did during my younger days.
