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.
There will be no further updates from this completed recipient.
2nd Payment
Transfer Amount
53150 KES ($516 USD)
access_time over 4 years ago
check
How is your life different than it would have been if you never received the transfer?
Life has changed because I now have livestock and I also have a new big house which I would have never managed to construct were it not for the cash transfers from the Give Directly organization. Cultivation of my land will be much easier in the future because I will no longer have to be using the hand-held hoe to do all the work.
In your opinion, what does GiveDirectly do well, and what does it not do well?
In my opinion, I think that the organization has helped people in a great way because a number of people have bought livestock which they will use for cultivation purposes while others built new houses which of course they would have never built were it not for the cash transfers from the organization.
What did you spend your second transfer on?
I spent the transfers on buying building materials which I used to erect a new permanent structure because the house I had before was just a small structure that was so old and in a dilapidated state. The rooftop was covered by grass because I could not afford to buy iron sheets, but since then a lot has changed because I managed to buy new iron sheets for my new house, and for me, I feel that I have improved tremendously.
Initial Payment
Transfer Amount
55000 KES ($545 USD)
access_time over 5 years ago
attach_money
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life.
I haven't been a stable source of income after I the collapse of my business and this lowered our living standards as a family. I'm happy this won't be the case anymore because I have reconstructed the business premise and soon I'll re-opening the business. This is the biggest difference in my daily life.
Describe the moment when you received your money. How did you feel?
It was around 8 in the morning when I was out with my friends doing casual work and all over sudden a message streamed in my phone and within no minute my friend too received a message. This left us wondering what a coincidence it could be. We both checked the messages and both of us laughed thanking God. We were so happy and as we worked we kept praising GiveDirectly.
What did you spend your first transfer on?
Previously I was running a retail shop, unfortunately, the premise fell leaving me with nowhere to run the business but to close down and this has affected the household income. The moment when I received the money I used a portion of it to purchase building materials which I used to reconstruct the premise and I'm happy I'm soon getting back to my feet. In addition to that, I didn't have an ox-plow and this forced me to hire ox-plow which was so expensive, so I bought an ox-plow with a portion of the money. I also have a sister and a child who are both in secondary and primary school, and they owed the school a huge amount of money thus they couldn't be allowed in school. I, therefore, used the money too to reduce the amount of fee they owed the school.
Enrolled
access_time over 5 years ago
What does receiving this money mean to you?
My greatest desire in life has always been to construct a bigger house for my family. Currently, I have a family of seven and we struggle a lot to fit in there and it is always embarrassing when we have visitors around. My first priority is to build a house once I receive my transfers. Secondly, I'd wish to start up a shop business that will earn me an extra income that will enable me educate my children who are in secondary school with ease. Finally, I will engage myself in livestock rearing specifically the oxen, that will enable me cultivate my land in time during planting season. Receiving this money therefore means; all the aforementioned projects will finally come into reality, all thanks to GD.
What is the happiest part of your day?
Am always up by five o'clock in the morning and my daily routines revolve around farm work and herding livestock depending on seasons. In most cases once am done with breakfast, I head straight to the farm up until noon. Past noon, the scorching sun can't allow manual work out there. Therefore, most of my afternoons are resting time. This is the perfect time to bond with family under a shade. This is definitely the happiest part of my day.
What is the biggest hardship you've faced in your life?
The biggest hardship I've faced in life is lack of sustainable agriculture. This has occurred mainly due to unpredictable climatical changes that have made our land unproductive. Besides, scarce availability of means of land tillage has been another cause. We normally hire oxen and most people in the village depend on the few that are available, this therefore resulting into delayed planting which of course leads to poor harvests. Once I receive the transfer, I will purchase my own oxen and a ploughing tool hence bringing all these struggles to an end.
