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 ($465 USD)
access_time over 2 years ago
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How is your life different than it would have been if you never received the transfer?
Initially I had a goal of improving my mud walled house to that of timber walled but along the way I diverted into other priorities that were equally important. My new goal is now to be able to improve my mud walled house to that of timber walled with a cemented floor. This will enable me to live a much more comfortable life as well as make my time easier in maintaining it.
In your opinion, what does GiveDirectly do well, and what does it not do well?
GiveDirectly did well in giving us cash unconditionally. This gave us the freedom to choose how best we could spend the money and even adjust where necessary. This is something that I so loved about their operations and I honestly did not find anything that I thought they could do better.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
I used KES 10000 to pay school fees for my daughter who is in her secondary education and used another KES 27000 to build a new house for my son who recently graduated into adulthood. The remaining amount of money was used to buy clothes for all family members and food as well. The decision to build a new house for my son was because he was the only child remaining in my household who never had his own house and I often felt I was letting him down until I received these transfers and fullfilled my responsibility as a parent. I now feel vindicated and my son too is happy to have his new house like any other child would wish to have at their stage in life. My daughter too has been able to stay in school whole term without disturbance.
Initial Payment
Transfer Amount
55000 KES ($484 USD)
access_time over 2 years ago
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Describe the moment when you received your money. How did you feel?
My neighbors had received the transfer, I was just waiting for the message, when I heard a message notification from my phone, my son came to check it for me. He said it was money sent from GiveDirectly. I felt so happy and immediately started to celebrate the good news with my entire family. This was one of the best morning hours because I have never received such amount of money before. I knew I would be able to buy a dairy cow.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life since you started receiving payments from GiveDirectly.
Purchasing a heifer is the biggest difference in my daily life. This had always been one of my goals. I own one dairy cow and and sometimes used to buy milk daily and this is so costly for me. I do not have a continuous source of income. I depend on casual jobs and this earns me small income. I was not able to meet all the household items and buy a cow. Currently I have hope that in the next four months I will be able to get enough milk for the family and even sell the extra milk to earn an income to meet other household items. I have peace of mind to do my daily activities without being stress up like before. I am so grateful for the support because GiveDirectly has lifted up to a higher sky.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
I spent KES 25,000 to purchase a heifer. This had always been my wishe and I was able to fulfilled. I will be able to minimise the cost of buying milk. I paid the debt that I had borrowed to invest on other activities I bought mattress, food, clothes and finally rice.
Enrolled
access_time almost 3 years ago
What does receiving this money mean to you?
Receiving this money means that my two children in secondary school will have good education. Personally, I did not get the chance to finish school and dropped out due to lack of school fees. My ambition is to see all my children growing up to become who they want to be in future. This is only achievable through educating them well. I want to take my daughter to a boarding secondary school so that she can have ample time to do her studies. I do casual jobs to earn a living inorder to buy food, clothing and pay for school fees that earns me KES 200 per day which is very little to feed my family of five and at the same time cater for school fees. I am so delighted because the transfers that I will get from Givedirectly will help me achieve this. I plan on spending KES 50,000 to pay for next academic year fees and KES 9,550 to clear school fees in arrears.
What is the happiest part of your day?
It has been 3 years since we had a good harvest from our farms and we mostly depend on market produce especially maize which is our staple food. For the last 6 months, it has been raining consistently and this has brought me happiness. It means from my 1 acre piece of land that I have planted I can harvest 3 bags of maize which will feed my family for 3 months reducing me the expenditure of buying food.
What is the biggest hardship you've faced in your life?
Depending on casual jobs for a living is very strenious and sometimes not reliable. I work on people's farms to earn daily wages which is also seasonal. When I get work to do, it earns me KES 150 per day which I spend in buying food for the family and nothing is left for the following day. Living like this has been a challenge because on occasions that I fell sick an unable to work we lack something to eat that day.
