GDLive Newsfeed
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.
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Enrollment
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Transfers
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Completed
Newsfeed > Grace's Profile
Grace's family
Grace
landscapeCountry:
kenya
workOccupation:
Raising livestock
faceAge:
59
workCampaign
Kenya Large Transfer
There will be no further updates from this completed recipient.
2nd Payment
Transfer Amount
53150 KES ($442 USD)
access_time over 1 year ago
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How is your life different than it would have been if you never received the transfer?
The new goal that I did not have before receiving the transfer is purchasing a water tank. I have completed the construction of the new house and I will buy a water tank. This will enable me to harvest rainwater for domestic use. We walk for long distances to collect clean water and this is very tedious. I will save some amount from the small-scale farming that we do at home and from the table banking group saving that we have started in our village.
In your opinion, what does GiveDirectly do well, and what does it not do well?
GiveDirectly does well by Giving money to the poor in the community to improve their standard of living. Most of the people were able to build better houses and start small businesses which earn them an income. I do not find anything that GiveDirectly did not do well since the whole process was perfectly done without any biases.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
I spent all the second transfer on purchasing building materials and fully renovating the house where we lived. We were able to get timber on time and pay workers who were doing the construction. We lived in a mud wall house and I was able to change it by replacing the mud walls with timber. I have cemented the floor of the house. Currently, we live on dusty-free floors and we are no longer exposed to dust. Maintaining a mud walls house is so tedious and hard process since getting the materials is not easy at all. I am so grateful for the support because GiveDirectly has enabled us to improve our living standards and live a better life.
 
Initial Payment
Transfer Amount
55000 KES ($499 USD)
access_time over 2 years ago
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Describe the moment when you received your money. How did you feel?
It was all happiness the moment I first confirmed the receipt of the first transfer. It was around 10 am when I received a notification message bearing the good news from GiveDirectly. On opening it, I was excited to see a huge figure in my account. This was so fascinating as it has been so long since I saw such a large amount in my account. Since I was still home at that moment, I had to inform other members of my family who were so happy to receive the news too. We all thanked God for the great support we were getting from GiveDirectly as we had planned on how to spend already.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life since you started receiving payments from GiveDirectly.
With the great changes in my life in the past few weeks, I am so grateful that I can't overlook any step I have taken since I received the first transfer. All works have been amazing, and I still hope to accomplish more in the coming days. Having all the grazing fields partitioned with lockable gates has brought the biggest difference in my life. This has enhanced the early opening of my business and improved profit margin due to the less time spent back home every morning. I am grateful for all these, and I am looking forward to implementing other greater projects with the second transfer.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
For more than a year now, I had been running a boutique shop that has been doing quite well despite the many challenges I had been facing. Even though it is located some distance away from home, I had been opening it late in the mid-morning due to other errands I had been running first back home before leaving. I always have to ensure that all cows are in ropes as I had not been having any stronger fence thus the need to feed them while restrained. On receiving the first transfer, I spent KES 33500 on obtaining fencing poles, barbed wire, and nails that made it possible for all my fields to be completely fenced and partitioned. This has eased the grazing management as I lock them to freely roam in an open field without having to tether. This has saved me some hours enhancing more business opening hours that translates to more customer time in the shop. I also spent KES 7300 on obtaining two bags of maize and a 25-kilogram bag of rice as household's foodstuff. With the remaining KES 10000, I added the stock to my business as I had been receiving lots of orders from the customers but could not meet them since I was operating within a small capital range. I am glad that I am slowly increasing my profit margin, and thanks to GiveDirectly for the great support.
 
Enrolled
access_time over 2 years ago
 
What does receiving this money mean to you?
I have always wanted to cement the floor of my houses and also buy a big storage tank. I am now getting old and I can't bend a lot to sweep and clean the floor more often. Therefore with these grants, I shall be able to renovate the floors of my house for sh 20000 and buy a 2300 litre storage tank worth sh 17000.At the moment I and my husband are getting old and we are unable to run around with our livestock therefore we need to buy 6 rolls of barbed wire to fence the compound . This will ensure the safety of the crops and livestock as well.
What is the happiest part of your day?
I am always happy in the evening when I see that all the products I took to the market are fully sold.
What is the biggest hardship you've faced in your life?
There was a time I felt sick so much and sh 20,000 was required for my operation. Finance was a great constraint, we had to fundraise from relatives since my husband had just retired and my kids were still in school.it even reached an extent where my parents requested my husband that I will be taken back to my maternal home for further care.