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 ($502 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?
Having have revived my business of charcoal has brought the difference in my life. I did not have enough funds and this made the business collapse at some point. This is because I utilized all the profit and capital to cater to my family needs. Currently, it's running so smoothly. Also through the transfer, I managed to buy a dairy cow and a pair of oxen. The pair of oxen will be for the agricultural purpose for my farm and those of neighbors at a fee, hence getting additional income. With the cow, I will be getting milk which I will sell them and save the money and start som other projects.
In your opinion, what does GiveDirectly do well, and what does it not do well?
In my opinion GveDirectly di so weell in so many areas. First the staffs were aproachable and rady to answer any questions that we woud ask. Secondly, the organization honored their promises to us and due to this, I do not see any sector GD failed us.
What did you spend your second transfer on?
I spent part of my second transfer on buying a dairy and an ox at a total of KES 40000. I also bought a sewing machine for my daughter who had graduated from a tailoring college. She had been employed by a friend and she was paid on a commission. This money was too little for her upkeep that's why I decided to buy her own machine. The remaining amount I bough enough foodstuffs fr my family.
Initial Payment
Transfer Amount
55000 KES ($539 USD)
access_time over 4 years ago
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Describe the biggest difference in your daily life.
The biggest difference in my daily life ever since I received my first transfers from Give Directly is that I now have an ox. Previously, I used to hire from friends whenever I wanted to prepare my farm. This was costly for me and sometimes I could fail to prepare and plant on time which led to poor yields. Though the ox cannot plough on its own, I will be borrowing the other one from my neighbor who also has one. I am now a happy farmer because I can plough my farm in a good time unlike before. This has really helped me from the expenses of hiring labor. Whenever I did not have enough money for labor, I was forced to dig my own farm alone and this meant that I would only dig and plant a small section of my farm and leave the rest to idle. I am hopeful that I would have a good harvest over the coming season now that I was able to utilize my whole farm.
Describe the moment when you received your money. How did you feel?
It was around 6 am when I heard my phone vibrating loudly. I decided to check what the message was all about and I realized it was a Mpesa message from GiveDirectly. I felt wow!! since I was sure the money will be of great help to me.
What did you spend your first transfer on?
I spent part of my first transfer on buying an ox. I settled in buying it because it has been my long-time dream. Being a farmer, my wish is always to prepare and plant on time to realize better yields but this had been challenging to me since I had to hire labor which was costly thus could lead to delays sometimes. I am happy that my ox will bring this to an end since I plan to combine with my neighbor's to help us in farming. I then gave a portion of the money to my spouse to expand his business of selling charcoal. Initially, the business was almost collapsing because he was the breadwinner and it reached a point he utilized the capital. I later bought some foodstuffs for my family and some other household items which I was lacking.
Enrolled
access_time over 4 years ago
What does receiving this money mean to you?
It is said that education is the key to a better life and as a parent, it has always been my greatest wish to ensure that all my ten children receive the best education that I was personally never given the chance to attain in my time simply because I was a woman. Up to this far, I have greatly struggled and my eldest child is in college pursuing a tailoring course. However in order for her to reach this far, her other siblings had to be sacrificed whereby some even had to repeat classes in order to give me a gap of paying school fees. This has made them to lag behind so much and this hurts me a lot. With this money I see my dream coming true.I will pay part of their pending school fees and with the rest, invest in a shop business so that the income can be more consistent to see all of them through to college.
What is the happiest part of your day?
I spend most of my day in the fields cutting down logs and preparing furnaces for burning charcoal which is my main source of income. The job is very tiring because we go very far to get the logs and so I only get to relax in the evening when I come back home to my family where we share our evening meal.Thus evening hours is my happiest part of the day
What is the biggest hardship you've faced in your life?
My income from my charcoal trade business is never enough to sustain my family needs.In a month I normally manage to make roughly Ksh.1500 yet the process of getting the logs and even burning the charcoal itself is normally very tiring and hectic. My husbands income from vending water in Mombasa is also very littleIn a good month, he only manages to send me ksh.1300. With a family of ten children who need to be fed,clothed and even be taken to school not to mention handle other emergencies, it has become a daily struggle for me to work extra to raise even more funds.As such, in my household,financial constraint is the biggest hardship that I face.
