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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24th Payment
Transfer Amount
3470 KES ($27 USD)
access_time 3 months ago
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How is your life different than it would have been if you never received the transfer?
I currently depend entirely on my husband for financial support. My main goal is to start my own vegetable-selling business. I plan to begin by purchasing vegetables from Mariekani, a local market, and selling them at affordable prices to my neighbors. I will hawk the vegetables until I have earned enough to set up a kiosk for selling them.To get started, I need $20 in capital. I will wait for next month’s transfer to fund this venture. I am determined to become financially independent and improve our family's standards of living.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
I am a mother of three children: one who is currently in school and two who are not yet of school age. With the transfer, I spent $25 to pay my child’s school fees to ensure he isn’t sent home and his education remains uninterrupted. I also bought him a new uniform for $10, as his old one was worn out and no longer looked presentable. Now he looks much more polished. Additionally, I spent $14 on new clothes for myself to ensure I look presentable when going out. As part of my plan to build a three-room house, I am purchasing metal sheets each month. I spent $20 on two metal sheets and have started the construction process, hoping to buy more sheets soon. I used part of the transfer to purchase four chickens for $19. I believe investing in chickens is a good strategy because they can multiply quickly, allowing me to sell them and use the proceeds to cover my children’s school fees. With the remaining $14, I bought food for my family to ensure we have enough to eat.
22nd Payment
Transfer Amount
3470 KES ($27 USD)
access_time 5 months ago
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How is your life different than it would have been if you never received the transfer?
Currently, I depend on my spouse for any financial support. Since my main job is to work on the farm, sometimes it is not easy, especially now that we are experiencing drought. In fact, most of our plants are drying up. In such a situation, at times we go to bed hungry due to the lack of food. Since my spouse also depends on unreliable jobs, at times he comes home empty-handed, but I understand. For that reason, before this transfer comes to an end, I have resolved to look for an income-generating activity to help us support each other and ease my spouse's financial burden. For that reason, I have resolved to save part of my monthly transfer towards opening a vegetable business. I am sure this business will enable me to have my own income, hence allowing me to participate in financial planning and decision-making in our household. This is what my heart desires, and I thank Give Directly because I know it will come to fulfilment through my monthly transfers.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
When I received my most recent transfer, I allocated $63.5 to buying food. We are currently experiencing a lot of drought, so the majority of our income is being used to purchase food. This is why I spent a larger amount of my recent transfer on food, to ensure we have enough stock for a longer period. I also bought two chickens for domestic rearing at $8 each. I chose to rear these two chickens because they multiply very fast, and I can sell some to earn money to support my family. With the remaining $30.5 I paid fees for my child and bought a leso for myself. I am really grateful for GiveDirectly for the financial support.
18th Payment
Transfer Amount
3470 KES ($21 USD)
access_time 10 months ago
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How is your life different than it would have been if you never received the transfer?
I have been buying chicken over a course of time, I bought chicken in January and also in November. I have a plan that I hope will be able to provide me with emergency funds. I am unemployed, My husband is a construction worker working on a casual basis. He only makes money when he secures work and that is not as often as we would want. I want to buy chicken which will hatch eggs that will become chicks and when they are all grown up the cycle continues. This means that incase we get emergencies such as health or school related we can sell the chicken and pay for those services.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
In November I spent my cash on buying a chicken at $5, I bought clothes for my three children at $10, I also got food at $18 and an airtime voucher of $1. In December I bought clothes again for my three children at $18, I spent $16 on buying food. January was the time the children were getting back to school, I paid school fees of $10 for one of my children and buying her books at $2, I bought the young ones $2 worth of diapers, I got sugar at $4, soap at 18, African fabric at $6.5 and food for $5.
14th Payment
Transfer Amount
3470 KES ($24 USD)
access_time 1 year ago
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How is your life different than it would have been if you never received the transfer?
I do not have a steady job, and I am always on the move to support myself. My goal is to save money from my transfers to open a small shop where I will sell various items, including vegetables. Thanks to GiveDirectly, I can now consider ways to make my future brighter.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
I am a mother of three children. One of them is currently in school, and I used $10 to pay his school fees to prevent any issues that might disrupt their learning. As the breadwinner of my family, I noticed that my children's clothes were worn out, so I spent $17 to make them look beautiful and well-dressed. The remaining $7, I sent to my husband, who is currently in jail for some reasons.
10th Payment
Transfer Amount
3470 KES ($25 USD)
access_time over 1 year ago
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How is your life different than it would have been if you never received the transfer?
I've always wanted to own run a small business, ideally a retail shop. This will be my primary priority as soon as I am able to save a sizable sum of money. This would provide my family with a source of income and make it easier for us to cover our basic necessities, such as food and the kids' tuition. Unfortunately, because I am currently the only provider in the household and all of my income goes toward meeting daily expenses, I am not in a position to start saving.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
Most household necessities fell under my responsibility after my partner was arrested more than six months ago. The biggest expense was food, on which I spent about $10 for my family of three (including me) and sent $5 to my husband to help with some basics while he was in police remand. Since his arrest, I often send him money every month. Additionally, I purchased some maize seeds for planting and outfits for my kids and also paid some school fees for my child.
6th Payment
Transfer Amount
3470 KES ($28 USD)
access_time over 1 year ago
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How is your life different than it would have been if you never received the transfer?
My husband, who has been our primary source of income, was arrested and is currently in prison, therefore I currently have no source of income. I want to start a business this year so that I can have a source of livelihood. I have already chosen the location of the grocery store I intend to open, hopefully in four months. While transfers are now my only source of income, I will be saving some money each month to reach this objective. As we wait for their father to be released, I'm hoping the revenue from it will allow me to take care of the needs of our two kids.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
I spent the majority of the transfers I recently received on foodstuff. My spouse has been responsible for taking care of all house necessities. Even though he only made a modest amount of money from his house construction business, what little he did make assisted with household needs. Unfortunately, he was arrested, and we have had to rely on the GiveDirectly payments every month ever since. Therefore, I spent $78 on food that would last us for a while. In addition, our firstborn had started a new school year, so I had to pay $5 for his tuition. In order to replace the old, worn-out garments we had, I also spent $19 on our clothing.
2nd Payment
Transfer Amount
3050 KES ($25 USD)
access_time 2 years ago
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In your opinion, what does GiveDirectly do well, and what does it not do well?
Most of the people in our area can put food on the table. This has not been the case before due to the high cost of living. GiveDirectly has improved our standard of living. I do not find anything that GiveDirectly did not do well.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
I spent KES 2,040 on purchasing food and other basic household basic needs. This is because I did not have food for the family at the time when I received the transfer. I am so happy because I was able to purchase the food on time and my children had enough to feed. The remaining amount of money I paid for school fees for my children in primary. They were able to study well without being sent home. I am so happy because it is always the dream of every parent to see their children studying well without being disturbed.
Initial Payment
Transfer Amount
3050 KES ($25 USD)
access_time 2 years ago
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Describe the moment when you received your money. How did you feel?
I had gone to get water from a distance on the day I received my transfer. My mind was racing as I returned, worrying about how I would pay for my youngest son's schooling. I was overjoyed as soon as I got home and confirmed my transfer. Indeed, I was made to believe that it was God's intervention. Without much thought, I chose to set aside KES 2,000 to help me facilitate what I needed to admit the boy to ECD school. I am extremely grateful to GiveDirectly.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life since you started receiving payments from GiveDirectly.
My three-year-old son had been pestering me to take him to school whenever he saw his peers going. Such a situation concerned me greatly because I was literally struggling to provide food for them because I had no source of income. Fortunately, the biggest difference I have noticed in my life since the transfer is being able to admit my son to ECD. He enjoys leaving the house for school every day.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
I have not bought some of my current clothes in several years. Some of them are old, and some have shrunk, making them unsuitable for travel. As a result of my transfer, I spent KES 1,000 on new clothes for myself because my previous outfits were unsuitable. I used the remainder to purchase school supplies and uniforms for my child. Finally, I paid KES 1,000 for my youngest son's admission to ECD, and I am now relieved to see him in school.
Enrolled
access_time over 2 years ago
What does receiving this money mean to you?
I was married seven years ago and right now I have two children one of whom is about to start schooling. I have not had any particular source of income yet and only depending on my husband who is a mason in the village. He normally makes around 5000 KES on average per month, from which we all our family needs. When I get this money I plan to first save mine untill I get 10000 KES to start a business selling french fries. This will give us a source of income even if the project ends.
What is the happiest part of your day?
I have been longing to have a source of income for quite too long, and so when GiveDirectly showed up I couldn't be more happy. In as much as it's still a matter of chance I already feel I'm going to get money which I can save up to start a business sometimes in future. I'm happy at this idea because it will help me beyond the project time and improve my family's lifestyle too.
What is the biggest hardship you've faced in your life?
My husband is a mason just earn by hunting construction jobs wherever there is. On average he makes a maximum of 5000KES monthly from which we get all our needs. This is not enough to feed our family of three and also feed the extended family that also depends on him. Basically, he strains to get more and this breakers my heart. I would really want to start a business to be able to supplement his income so that he doesn't have to take up too much work to earn enough money.