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?
I was very happy and thankful when I first received the money from GiveDirectly. The receipt of the message was a great thing for me. At that moment, I was with my helper, who read and confirmed the sender. Since it was around 6:00 pm, I could not collect the money on the same day but visited the shopping center with my helper some days later and collect the entire amount.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life since you started receiving payments from GiveDirectly.
The biggest difference in my daily life is the great happiness in my family after accomplishing all we had planned before receiving the first transfer. This transformation has motivated me to keep working hard, as I expect to receive the second transfer.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
With the first KES 33000 of my first transfer, I obtained a dairy heifer that I am hopeful will help in milk production in the future. I had been buying at least a liter of milk from the village. Buying milk was costly since I have no reliable source of income. I also invested KES 4000 on a sheep I am rearing to sell out in case of an emergency. I spent KES 7000 out of the remaining amount on stocking enough foodstuff that I am still using to date and saved the remaining amount for the daily upkeep and purchase of any exhausted household goods.
Enrolled
access_time over 2 years ago
What does receiving this money mean to you?
Receiving this money means a better living standard for my family. I have been raising my children all along due to family conflict. We are not on good terms and this made them abandon me and struggle alone to raise my two children. Luckily enough my parents have accommodated me for that long but I have not achieved my dream of owning a dairy cow to help me feed my children. With this money, I will consider buying a dairy cow with KES 30,000. I will be happy to receive this transfer since it will achieve my dream of owning a property. This will be a milestone in my life. To avoid the perennial struggle of putting food on the table I will use the remaining money to stock foodstuff for my household.
What is the happiest part of your day?
My sweet potatoes are growing very well. I am happy and hopeful that I will have a bumper harvest this season. The unfavorable weather condition has been a source of poor production in our region. Having this will relieve us from the burden of constant food shortage.
What is the biggest hardship you've faced in your life?
I am currently struggling to provide food for my family. I depend on casual jobs as my main source of livelihood. Unfortunately, my old age limits me to work in heavy and high-paying casual jobs. This makes me earn as low as KES 100 daily which is not sustainable and this worries me. Sometimes I can not afford to put food on the table making us skip meals and even use less preferred food for supper.
