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 at home that day and we had just had supper as a family. We were about to retire to bed when I heard my phone ring twice. That was quite unusual since I heardly had anyone calling or texting me around that time. On checking, I realized that GiveDirectly had made good their promise of sending us money. i broke the good news to my immediate family who were equally very happy and appreciative of the transfers. We looked forward to implementing all that we had planned.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life since you started receiving payments from GiveDirectly.
.The biggest difference in our lives as a family is that we are now living a more stress free life where everyone of us is extremely jovial. We look forward to receiving our next transfers to be able to accomplish much more and change the lives of our family in totality.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
We used KES 15000 to pay school fees for our children who are in various secondary schools and used the other KES 28000 to buy a dairy cow. Our 3 children were often sent home for school fees since the casual work and the subsistence farming that we practiced could not allow us to raise enough money that would keep them in school all year round. We are happy that they will now be in school and hopefully their results will improve and get hopes of having a brighter future ahead. We thought it was also wise to buy a dairy cow and be able to get extra income from it in the future. The remaining amount was used to buy food and clothes for all the family members.
Enrolled
access_time over 2 years ago
What does receiving this money mean to you?
Receiving this money means financial freedom. For 2 years now, I have stayed without a cow because I sold the one I owned to pay school fees for my son when he joined secondary school two years ago. My husband and I depend only on casual jobs to earn a living so as to support our family of 4. The KES 200 we earn daily is not enough to cater for food and at the same time pay school fees. I am happy that the transfers I will get from Givedirectly will relieve me from this. I plan on buying two dairy cows at 40,000 and when it calf's it can produce about 5 litres of milk per day that I can sale for KES 150. This will be a reliable source of income to my family and the rest of transfers I will use it to pay school fees for my son.
What is the happiest part of your day?
I have been battling with epilepsy for the last 10 years and about 10 months ago, while cooking in the kitchen I got seizures and since no one was near to help me I fell at the fireplace and my left hand got burnt. It took several months to heal but I thank God that now I have partially recovered and can go fend for my family comfortably.
What is the biggest hardship you've faced in your life?
We do casual jobs inorder to sustain the basic needs such as food, clothing and school fees of my family. Although two of my children are employed, sometimes overrelying on them is something that I abhor. At the same time, the average of KES 200 we earn daily is hardly enough to cater for everything. A year ago we sold a piece of land to cater for medication bill for my second born son who got involved in an accident. Financial constraints therefore is the greatest challenge that I am facing currently.
