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 ($508 USD)
access_time 4 years ago
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How is your life different than it would have been if you never received the transfer?
My life is currently different than how it would have been had I not received the transfer because I have been able to build a house for my son. Due to this, he now sleeps at home unlike before and I no longer worry about his security at night. Also, I am now a proud owner of a dairy cow and some chicken. I will be using the income from these projects to cater for our daily needs. This will be my major source of income since I cannot engage myself in tedious work as I am disabled and I cannot even do some tasks like farming.
In your opinion, what does GiveDirectly do well, and what does it not do well?
GiveDorectly did well by helping people in my village in different ways. Most people used their transfer to achieve their goals like buying assets such as cows and goats, food, clothing and building decent houses. I do not see anything that they did not do well.
What did you spend your second transfer on?
I spent my second transfer to build a decent house for my son. He had been sleeping at our neighbor's house and I was never comfortable with this arrangement. This is because it is always unsafe for him to move around the village at night looking for a place to spend the night at. As a way of investing this money, I bought a dairy cow worth KES 25000. My family will be getting enough milk for our consumption and sale to earn income. On the remaining amount, I bought enough food to last us for some time.
Initial Payment
Transfer Amount
55000 KES ($540 USD)
access_time over 4 years ago
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Describe the biggest difference in your daily life.
With all the plans in place, we have a good feeling that things are transforming in our lives as a household. The biggest difference in our daily life at the moment is the great feeling of hope over the projects we are starting. Among them, poultry project is what has brought a lot of hopes since it is one of the easiest and productive project we have seen it starting at the moment.
Describe the moment when you received your money. How did you feel?
Receiving the transfer from GD was really the epitome of happiness for our household. We were all filled with joy which kept us thanking God for the new dawn in our lives. I started imagining ourselves establishing all we have been planning and seeing them coming out successful. To date, we have been praying God to guide us as we put our money into various assignments and we are really hopeful that all will go well as we have planned.
What did you spend your first transfer on?
On receiving the first transfer from GiveDirectly, I had a lot of plans in my mind. Together with my household members, we sat and came up with the list of goals we wanted to achieve before exhausting the total sum of money we had received. Having lived in a single house for the better part of our lives, we decided to construct a new one. We had to buy 16 iron sheets which cost us 30000 KES. We also considered fencing all around our piece of land a project which needed a barbed wire worth 3000 KES. We also picked on the construction of a chicken coop in preparation to start a poultry project and we needed a chain link. Foodstuff for the household was also on our list and we decided to buy two sacks of maize and farm inputs. The remaining amount went to savings which will be useful later in the management of the construction project and in purchasing the chickens.
Enrolled
access_time over 4 years ago
What does receiving this money mean to you?
Amos, my eldest son cleared his secondary education in 2015. He performed well with a grade good enough to take him to college but we had to forgo due to financial challenges. Now that I am a beneficiary of GiveDirectly cash transfer program my son is going to enroll to the Eldoret National Polytechnic to pursue his dream course in Civil Engineering come January next year. This is going to cost me my entire first transfer of Kshs 55,000 (550usd). I am going to trust God for the subsequent semesters to see my son through well-wishers and government bursary.
With an imminent old age and my blindness I believe it's only through the education of my son that I am going to live a life of dignity in the near future.
What is the happiest part of your day?
Despite my blindness I can afford a smile amid the many storms I face. This is especially when my son has come home from work in the evening with some food for the day. This is the happiest part of my day. He is an employed shopkeeper who works from morning till evening in a shopping center, 2 kilometers from home.
What is the biggest hardship you've faced in your life?
Where do you start when you attended school only up to class 7 and dropped out due to blindness? The truth is, no one has control over what turn their lives will take but God. I was enjoying the privileges of attending school and all childhood dreams like all children of my age, until they were cut short by an untimely blindness when I was about 13 years old. I was a bright student and I believe I could have been a good mathematician. I know this because I still got my memory around a lot of phone numbers in my head right now. The day I realized I cannot see anymore remains the worst of my life. It was the beginning of many challenges. Life became even worse with the passing on of my father(amid sobs) who loved me dearly. Right now I cannot cultivate land nor seek casual jobs out of severity of my condition. The only choice I've got is rely on my son who depends on casual employment for income.
My greatest worry everyday is if my 3 children drop out of school due to lack of finances, which is going to become another condemnation to a vicious cycle of poverty.
