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?
It was early in the morning at exactly 9:17 am when I received a notification of the transfer that had just landed in my account. I was at my daughter's closing ceremony in her new school when I got this news and I was so excited knowing that the hope of starting a new life, venturing into a long-term investment, and clearing school fees for my daughter was finally with me. I blessed the Lord and waited for the function to come to an end since I was so eager to catch up with my daughter, even though she is still young and could not quite understand the feeling I had then.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life since you started receiving payments from GiveDirectly.
The biggest difference in my daily life since I received the transfer is the great investment in livestock. This is an investment that I am hoping to see grow on its own with less management input. I am hoping to see the herd grow, and in the future, I will not be having a hard time raising school fees for my daughter and also extra finances to initiate any new project.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
After completing my Diploma course in Library Science, I have been moving up and down in search of a job that has never come to be yet. I had been living with my firstborn daughter who just joined her lower primary school. Receiving the transfer from GiveDirectly allowed me to heavily invest in livestock as I managed to obtain a steer and a heifer at $450. These are in addition to one cow I had been having on my field. I made this decision intending to grow them to better and productive livestock in the future that will help raise finances towards other projects. I also spent $70 on paying school fees for my daughter and the remaining $45 on obtaining another pair of uniforms, shoes, and some second-hand clothing for both of us. I am grateful to see the great success on the investment as everything turned out to exceed what I initially expected.
Enrolled
access_time over 3 years ago
What does receiving this money mean to you?
My ambition is to be a librarian in a secondary school or own a cyber cafe of my own. I am a librarian by profession, I completed my studies in 2017 but since then I haven't been able to get a job. I had an opportunity of working in a cyber cafe for short term and gained a lot of experience which will help me in opening my own within the village. Renting a shop premice in my village is affordable and the devices are in high demand since the residents have to go to other villages to be assisted,per month I can pay only $10 for renting space. Most of my transfer will be used in opening the cyber, by buying second hand equipments. A second hand computer monitor goes for $100 while a printer is about $150, photocopying machine goes for $250. Once the cafe is set up j will be able to get income and make a living from it.
What is the happiest part of your day?
Each day I wake up early, prepare my child for school on normal school days, prepare breakfast,see him off to school then embark on walking within the village looking for casual jobs to do. On the fortunate days I get to work on people's farms until evening then go back home. Each day that I get work and paid is when I am mostly happy because I know my son will be able to get food for the next day.
What is the biggest hardship you've faced in your life?
My biggest hardship in life has been unemployment. I am a single mother of one and currently do odd casual jobs to support my child. Per week I get to work for 3-4 days and each day I get paid $3 which is not enough for school fees, food and clothing. When I graduated I thought I'd be able to get a librarian job easily but that has turned out to be in vain.
