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 > Mercy's Profile
Mercy's family
Mercy
landscapeCountry:
kenya
workOccupation:
Subsistence farming
faceAge:
31
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?
My new goal is to start up my food joint since I got the skills from where I work at the moment. I would like to make profits which shall enable me to progress in life. I don't want to depend on wages anymore. I am making savings through a merry-go-round savings plan so that I can raise capital for the business.
In your opinion, what does GiveDirectly do well, and what does it not do well?
GiveDirectly did well by supporting the community at large. They never selected some people and left some but what they did was so nice as there were no biasness during enrollment. On what GiveDirectly didn't do well, I have nothing to say about it as everything was done well.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
I work at a food joint in a nearby shopping center and through my earnings, I cater to my family's needs. When I got my second transfer from GiveDirectly, I spent KES 50000 on buying two cows for milk production. I had none but for now, I have two and I thank God for GiveDirectly who enabled us to acquire what we couldn't afford. The remaining amount, I spent on paying school fees for my child.
 
Initial Payment
Transfer Amount
55000 KES ($475 USD)
access_time 2 years ago
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Describe the moment when you received your money. How did you feel?
It was around 7:30 am and I was at home preparing breakfast for my family when I thought of checking on my phone. I saw that I had a new message, and on opening it, I was surprised when I saw that I had received KES 55000 from GiveDirectly. I was so happy and I immediately informed my husband and my children about what had happened. They were so happy and we celebrated together. We gave thanks to God for everything. We then sat down and planned how we were going to spend it.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life since you started receiving payments from GiveDirectly.
The transfer brought a very big difference in our lives as a family. Our livelihoods changed for the better since we got the things that we didn't have before, that is, a cow. We will thus no longer incur the cost of buying milk when it calves. We are also glad because we managed to till our land and plant. The children are also happy because they got new clothes to wear. Thank you so much GiveDirectly for helping us.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
When we got our recent transfer, one of our children had fallen ill and we didn't have the money to take him to the hospital. So, we took KES 5000 and we spent it on his medication and buying some maize for our consumption. We are thus glad the transfer came in handy at the time when we needed money the most. We then spent another KES 30000 on buying a cow. We bought it because we didn't have one. We hence used to incur the cost of buying milk where we used to buy half a liter every day for making tea. It was always our wish to own a cow but we were not in a position to buy one because we didn't have the money. My husband and I depend on casual jobs to earn a living. The money that we make is little and it is only enough to buy food, that is, maize and milk, and we at times spend some on paying school fees for our five children. We also spent KES 2000 on tilling our piece of land and planting maize. With the remaining transfer amount, we used it on buying clothes and we paid some to the person who was taking care of our son who underwent the circumcision ceremony.
 
Enrolled
access_time over 2 years ago
 
What does receiving this money mean to you?
I am struggling to pay school fees for my three children, this makes it impossible to build a better house for my family and buy them a cow. With this money, I will use KES 50000 to build a better house and KES 30000 to buy a cow. My daughters are currently slumbering my neighbor's children making me worried about their security. Also, this makes them vulnerable to bad behavior. Having this house will make me feel good now that I will be able to monitor them. Now that milk is a staple food for children, my family will have the privilege of providing their milk which translates to good health.
What is the happiest part of your day?
Having no stable income for the family is frustrating. Regardless of this, I can put food on the table for my family with KES 200 daily from my casual job. This makes me feel happy.
What is the biggest hardship you've faced in your life?
I am struggling financially to provide food for my family. I am a casual Laborer earning up to KES 200 per day. This is peanut and not sufficient for the family.