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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Completed
Newsfeed > Rashid's Profile
Rashid's family
Rashid
landscapeCountry:
kenya
workOccupation:
Casual labor
workCampaign
Kenya Basic Income
Upcoming Stage
Next Payment
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Follow to be updated on Rashid's next check-in.
 
29th Payment
Transfer Amount
3470 KES ($27 USD)
access_time 16 days ago
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How is your life different than it would have been if you never received the transfer?
My lifelong goal has always been to improve my family’s living standards. To work towards this, I started a business where I sell fast-moving household consumables like sugar, maize flour, etc., and I have plans to expand it into a larger store offering a variety of products. To achieve this vision, I intend to allocate a portion of my transfers each month to reinvest in the business. Additionally, I am saving another portion through our merry-go-round group, so when it’s my turn to receive the pooled funds, I can invest a larger amount into my shop. My hope is that by the time this program concludes, my shop will be stable enough to support itself and provide for my family and children’s education. I am optimistic that these investments will pay off, giving my family something reliable to depend on in the future. Related
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
I recently started a small shop selling household consumables, and I’m thrilled to share that it’s progressing well. While it may not be large yet, I am grateful for how far I've come. My mission has always been to see my shop grow into a bigger establishment, and to achieve this, I’ve been investing a portion of my transfers back into the business. Just recently, I spent $40 of my transfers to help it expand further. In addition to this, I joined a merry-go-round group with five other members, where we each contribute a set amount of money. I contributed $30 of my transfers to this group, and when my turn comes to receive the pooled funds, I plan to invest that money back into my business. Finally, I used the remaining $32 to buy food for my family, ensuring they wouldn’t go hungry. I am truly thankful for the opportunity that GiveDirectly has provided us, and I remain hopeful that my business will grow to support my family’s needs and my children’s education.
 
25th Payment
Transfer Amount
3470 KES ($27 USD)
access_time 4 months ago
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How is your life different than it would have been if you never received the transfer?
My main goal is to improve our living standards. I have opened a shop and I plan to expand my business. By the time I have completely received my transfers, I would have expanded my business and it will have been stable enough to bring in a lot of profit. We had tried a lot of businesses before, like raring chicken but they all died and I am left with six right now. I plan then to invest more in expanding my shop because I believe I will only make profit and no loss this time round.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
I am a father of six children, five of them are currently in school and one of them is not of age. I took $30 and paid for their school fees so that they won't be sent from school and their education will not be interrapted. With the transfers, I was able to open a shop where I sell things like sugar, salt, flour and many other things that can be found in any shop. I took $30 and added stock to my existing business. For me to make a huge profit, I have to have a lot of stocks and sell more things. I currently have seven acres of land and spent $34 in cultivating one acre for it to be planted maize, and when we harvest we can easily have food to eat and also sell some to get income. The remaining $8 I kept for the future uncertainty.
 
22nd Payment
Transfer Amount
3470 KES ($24 USD)
access_time 8 months ago
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How is your life different than it would have been if you never received the transfer?
I opened a shop where we sell vegetables next to our house. Every time I receive my transfer, I continue to add different stocks to my shop so I can sell a variety of items. My biggest goal is to expand my business, make a huge profit, and ensure that my children study well and complete their studies on time without any difficulties.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
I am a father of six children. Five of them are currently in school, and one is not of age yet. The moment I received my transfers, I spent $34 to cover my daughter's school fees as I was enrolling her for Form One. She joined Lutangani Secondary School near Bamba and opted for boarding. I am immensely grateful to GiveDirectly for their assistance.
 
17th Payment
Transfer Amount
3470 KES ($23 USD)
access_time 1 year ago
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How is your life different than it would have been if you never received the transfer?
As I said I started a retail shop business recently. My energies are directed to this business, my plan is to expand it further. Its just starting off meaning we are still trying to bring it up to a point it can self sustain. I will be redirecting most of my transfers going into this business to grow it so as to ensure my family has a source of cash to which they can depend on.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
I am a young man with a young family. I needed to figure out how to make some money to ensure that my family was well taken care of. I had initially began a business rearing chicken but their was a Newcastle outbreak that lead to the loss of a large number of my broilers. I then decided to sell the rest off to reduce my losses and used the money to set up a retail shop. I have now been directing my attention to stabilizing this business. I used my entire July and September transfers to restock the business while in August I only spent $19 on the business, I used the rest of the money to shop for my house buying toiletries and some food items.
 
14th Payment
Transfer Amount
3470 KES ($25 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?
I have a small retail store business, but the income I get from it had never been enough to fully cater to my family’s needs. I have always wished to have a type of business whose income is enough without having to struggle to engage in other income-generating activities. My goal was therefore to expand it by adding more stock and I plan to save part of my monthly transfers so that when I shall have gathered around $100, I would immediately do the restocking.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
I received the transfers at a time I was facing some financial challenges. Currently, we are in the rainy season, most of the people were doing farming, but on my side, I had not yet started due to the lack of finances. I need to buy seeds and also hire people to help me with the cultivation, but I did not have the money. Luckily I received the transfers from GiveDirectly and I immediately commenced my farming. Buying enough food for the family was a also another challenge owing to the fact that I have a large family of 9. I, therefore, managed to buy food worth $15 and spent the rest of the money on farming and I was very grateful to GiveDirectly for the great support because I am now assured that my family would have food even when the drought period commences.
 
8th Payment
Transfer Amount
3470 KES ($28 USD)
access_time almost 2 years ago
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How is your life different than it would have been if you never received the transfer?
I previously had a chicken-rearing project, but unfortunately, the project ceased as a result of an outbreak that claimed all my chicken. So my goal is to start another chicken-rearing project, I have learnt a lot from a friend who does the same and manages to bank some good income, I too believe that it will help to alleviate me from my current poverty status. I plan to save KES.1500 every month from the transfers in order to see my dreams come true.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
As soon as I was enrolled in the program and began receiving the transfers, I began poultry farming. So whenever I got my transfers, I could buy chicks and chicken feeds. I ventured into this poultry farming because I did not have a job but rather relied on casual jobs while my wife has a grocery kiosk. My flock did well until recently when I had to sell out due to an outbreak of poultry diseases. However, I received my recent transfer when my brother was unwell and unable to meet his medication bills. I, therefore, spent $ 18 to pay off his medication cost. The balance of $ 16 helped me to acquire food for my family of eight members. Food is extremely scarce and expensive in our area due to the famine caused by the prolonged drought.
 
6th Payment
Transfer Amount
3050 KES ($25 USD)
access_time almost 2 years ago
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What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
I used the first $30 to buy iron sheets for constructing a new chicken house and used another $30 to buy food and other basic household needs for my family. The most recent amount of $30 was used to pay school fees for one of my children who is in her secondary level of education. I am a father of six children with four already in school and two joining soon. Meeting all my family's needs with odd casual jobs of construction work has been really tough for us as a family and without GiveDirectly, things would have fallen out of hand already. When I started receiving payments from GiveDirectly, I started investing them in poultry keeping project but just when I had made a huge investment in it, the chicken were attacked by a strange disease that killed almost all of them. I have had enough time to reflect on what I did not do well in that business and right now I am saving some other cash before I could start up the project again. My wife operates a small business that help s is meet some of our family's needs as well. The situation is still very tough but we are looking forward to better days ahead. We are so lucky to have been part of beneficiaries in this life changing program. We will always be indebted to GiveDirectly.
 
2nd Payment
Transfer Amount
3050 KES ($26 USD)
access_time over 2 years ago
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In your opinion, what does GiveDirectly do well, and what does it not do well?
GiveDirectly has done a great deal for me ever since I enrolled in the program. I have nothing to complain about regarding the organisation because it has really come to elevate us from situations of complete poverty and I just recently got enrolled I can see the changes. For example me paying the debt to my friend would have taken quite a long time were it not for the funds I received.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
My son finished elementary school in March and after the results were our, he was required to join high-school in April. Unfortunately I have no permanent job and I rely on temporary gigs here and there to cater for my family. Now last month, my son was required to join high-school and required a bunch of items which included uniform, fees and even pock money just to mention a few items. I paid for most part of the expenses but then I eventually ran short while I still was not done with all the requirements for my son. Therefore I went ahead and asked a friend for a loan of KES 6,500 and soon after he was ready to start a new chapter of his life by joining high-school. Now in consideration with the funds from GiveDirectly, when I received them, I went on to ensure that I paid my debt so that I could deliver as I had promised my friend I would when I borrowed the money from him. I paid him the entire funds I had received which was KES 3,000 because he came through for me when I needed help the most and by paying him it would help us continue our great relationship.
 
Initial Payment
Transfer Amount
3050 KES ($26 USD)
access_time over 2 years ago
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Describe the moment when you received your money. How did you feel?
I received my transfer at night when my phone was charging.The next day in the morning when I switched on my phone ,the mpesa notification caught my attention. It was unbelievable and it took me a series of checking my mpesa balance and calling some of my friends to confirm that the message was legit and not fraud.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life since you started receiving payments from GiveDirectly.
The biggest difference in my daily life is my day to day routine which has changed.After coming from work instead of aimless wandering through the village, have shifted my energy to my poultry farming.I have also initiated a trend in my children now that schools are closed to learn on chicken rearing.I am hoping to outsource orders like my friend who trades his chicken in bulk which is more profitable.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
I was motivated by one of my close friends to start poultry farming due to the profits generated, which allowed him to support and sustain his family. I have been a casual labourer in construction sites who works and earns a minimum of KES 450 per day which is not consistent. I have been thinking of a side hustle to boost my income and thought of starting poultry farming.I used my cash transfer of KES 1500 to buy 15 chickens and the rest of the money was used to buy chicken feed and vaccine.
 
Enrolled
access_time over 2 years ago
 
What does receiving this money mean to you?
Lack of employment has made me desire to get self,-employed. Out of the 400KES earned while working as a non routine casual labourer in house construction, I used to save 100 KES a day in order to raise 10 000 KES to start a poultry farming. Recently, I constructed a 3m by 5m structure. I was supposed to have 5000 KES to kick off the business but my pockets were drained by my firstborn son who was sitting for his national primary school examinations. Once in possession of my first three transfers, I will spend them in purchasing 100 chicks which will cost 5 000KES and a sack of chicken feed at 2000 KES and 1000 KES for poultry vaccines and boosters. I have trust in this income generating activity for in four months I am certain to raise a profit of about 20 000KES( with all factors made constant). This will boost my livelihood in unaccountable ways.
What is the happiest part of your day?
I have a friend of mine who supported me with 3 000 KES. This happened two weeks ago when my son was about to start his national exams and there were some requirements which he had not met including a geometric set which he could not be allowed into an examination room without. I had no coin in my house and I could not hide my joy when he chipped in to help me.
What is the biggest hardship you've faced in your life?
I used to work in town as a taxi driver, a job which I lost after the spread of corona pandemic. I had to return to the village where I have been doing casual labour in house construction.Getting 400 KES a day cannot cater to all my family needs. I have six children, four are enrolled in school and the second last has not started going to school though he is due. My children cannot finish an entire term without being sent back home to collect fee arrears. I have been longing to start my own business, poultry farming, but financial upheavals as well as the increased cost of living have stopped me.