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 ($467 USD)
access_time almost 3 years ago
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How is your life different than it would have been if you never received the transfer?
Our new goal is to buy a cow. We want to buy one so that we can get milk for our consumption and for sale. We managed to buy a calf with the first transfer. We use to have a cow before but it was not ours. We had borrowed someone. It has always been our wish to have our own but we did not have the money to buy one. We had bought some sheep with the second transfer. We plan to sell some of them when they will have multiplied in number and use the money in buying a cow.
In your opinion, what does GiveDirectly do well, and what does it not do well?
GiveDirectly did well because they were not biased in enrolling people in the community. They enrolled everyone as long as you were a resident of the village. They also did not ask for any bribes for them to enroll people into their program, it was free and fair. I don't see anything wrong with their work and I, therefore, encourage them to continue with the same spirit.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
We spent the second transfer on buying some sheep. We spent KES 25000 on them. We decided to buy the sheep because they multiply in number very fast and also because they will help us in the future. We also spent KES 15000 cementing the floor of our main house. We use to mud it and we had always wanted to cement it so that we can get rid of too much dust and also so that we can reduce the amount of work. We had already bought the cement and we had collected sand from the roadside. With the remaining amount of money, we bought a bag of maize and some clothes to ourselves and the children. The clothes that we had had grown old and we did not have the money to buy some. We are thus happy and grateful to GiveDirectly because our lives changed for the better. We managed to get the things that we never thought we will be able to have.
Initial Payment
Transfer Amount
55000 KES ($489 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 away from home herding my cattle when I heard some neighbors saying they had received the promised transfer from Give directly. I immediately left for home and upon checking my phone, I saw an MPESA message confirming the same I was so happy and grateful to God that indeed the day had come so that I could commence on my plans.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life since you started receiving payments from GiveDirectly.
Having a heifer added to my livestock is my great joy since we had always wanted this.This has been a great feeling to my family.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
We had always thought of adding livestock but we didn't have enough money though we had saved towards it.Having discussed with my husband we obtained a heifer worth Kshs.20,000 which it can calf in future and gives us surplus milk for sell hence getting an extra income for us to cater for some household stuff.With Kshs.10,000 we bought a tank that can hold up to 1000litres so that during rainy season we can harvest water hence can be helpful during dry season.With the remaining amount we spent on buying clothing and food for my entire household members.
Enrolled
access_time 3 years ago
What does receiving this money mean to you?
We have a relatively vast land for grazing. Although it is not productive there are alot of pasture, we border the maasai community who also posses large tracts of land for grazing and we coexist harmoniously in sharing the resources. It is against this backdrop that we intend to purchase more indigenous goat to take advantage of the availability of pasture.This will boost our disposable income in future especially paying for school fees. We intend to spend approximately KES 40000 in purchasing the goats. The rest of the money will go towards purchase of indigenous cows .
What is the happiest part of your day?
I am a house wife mostly doing household chores and taking care of goats and cows. My happiest part of the day is in the evening when I am taking a rest after a tedious routine works.
What is the biggest hardship you've faced in your life?
The challenge we have been facing upto date is the scarcity of maize for consumption. This is as a result of lethal necrosis disease that affected the crops since 2011. Production of maize therefore is a thing of the past. As a result we are left with no choice but to purchase this commodity in the nearest Sigor market. The cost of the maize can be costly ,90kg bag of maize retails at approximately KES 3000,to us it is expensive. We are forced to sell a goat to afford it and mark you we have a few of them.
