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 felt so happy the moment I received money from GiveDirectly. I was at home and I saw the message at around 7:00 pm and I shared the good news with my helper who later helped me in withdrawing the money. I had a lot of projects lined up and that I needed money to accomplish and this was a great opportunity to do so having received money.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life since you started receiving payments from GiveDirectly.
The biggest difference in my daily life since I started receiving payments from GiveDirectly is that my living standards have been improved a great deal. The fact that I will be able to get sources of income diversified means I will lead a much more happier life than I am leading now. I still have two children in secondary school and this income sources will help me in paying their school fees and making sure that they attain good grades. I feel much happier and a stress free person than I was before receiving payments from GiveDirectly.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
I used KES 10000 to complete construction of my house. The money was used to fix windows in a house that was almost complete by the time I received money. I used another KES 20000 to buy building materials for construction of a poultry house. I chose poultry keeping since it is a project that I can easily run and make additional income to that of dairy keeping. I used another KES 10000 to pay school fees for one of my children who was sent home for school fees at around the same time that I received the money. The remaining amount was used to buy food and other basic household needs for my family. All these investments that I made were worthwhile and I am super grateful that I received the money since I woukd have relied on support from my other children as well as merry go round contributions to make ends meet had I not received money from GiveDirectly.
Enrolled
access_time almost 2 years ago
What does receiving this money mean to you?
Receiving this money means that I will invest more in farming, both poultry and diary keeping. I will spend about KES 40,000 on the chicken coop construction and buy about 20 chickens. From this, I will have a constant income of roughly KES 500 each day. I will be saving this .oney in order to be able to pay school fees for my grandchildren. I will then pay school fees for my children and buy a dairy cow with the remaining amount.
What is the happiest part of your day?
In the last six months,I came very close to completing the house construction . I now have a spacious house, made of timber for the walls and concrete floor. I am happy that live in a more decent house, unlike the mud house that I just left.
What is the biggest hardship you've faced in your life?
The biggest challenge in my life is raising school fees and feeding my family.To do these, I rely on my small farm to grow crops such as maize, and vegetables for sale. However, the income from farming is always not enough to cater for all these needs.
