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?
The moment I received my transfer, I can vividly recall that it was around 7 pm when I was at home relaxing and reflecting on how my day was. Suddenly, I heard my phone ringing and on checking what the message entailed. That was when I realised that I had received money from GiveDirectly. This was the most rejuvenating news that calmed all my nerves. The joy and happiness that I felt were unimaginable because I knew that With the cash I would be able to transform my life into a better one within a short period. Thus I was thankful to the almighty God for the wonderful gift that came my way.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life since you started receiving payments from GiveDirectly.
Words cannot express how happy I am to have received the support that I had from GiveDirectly. Building a decent house for my family is a dream come true, I have lost hope of owning a decent house due to financial constraints because I am a window and I depend only on the grocery business in earning a living which is barely enough. Secondly, I m happy that I would be able to save up money that I used on milk daily since I own a cow now. I am so grateful for the support that empowered us financially without discriminating against anyone.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
Building a decent house for my family has been the innermost desire that I had yearned for a long time. But this was not possible due to financial constraints since I depend on my grocery business in earning a living and what I make is barely enough to pay the school fees of my six children and also cater for other basic needs. Therefore upon receiving my initial transfer, I used KES 18,000 on building a decent house since the one that I had was grass-thatched. Though it is not complete I am hopeful that this would be realised once I receive my second transfer. Secondly, I bought a dairy cow worth KES 27,000 to cut the cost of buying milk and lastly, I used KES 10,000 on paying school fees for my children.
Enrolled
access_time over 2 years ago
What does receiving this money mean to you?
I have two sons in University and their school fees has been difficult for us to raise. We pay school fees of about KES 70,000 in a year. It has been so hard to meet out basic needs while paying for their education. We are joyful that Give Directly money will help us pay school fees arrares and putting up a better house.
What is the happiest part of your day?
We had better harvest from our maize farm. It has been long since we harvested maize that could sustain our family for a whole season. We were impressed that we will not buy maize for consumption in the next six months.
What is the biggest hardship you've faced in your life?
Paying school fees for two University students and one in highschool has been the biggest challenge that we have. All the money we make goes to school and we struggle with household basic needs.
