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?
It was early in the morning after I had just woke up when I realized that GiveDirectly had deposited some money into my account. I became so happy as I knew that I would finally build a decent and spacious house for my family as it had always been my prayer to do so.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life since you started receiving payments from GiveDirectly.
The biggest difference in my daily life is that I am now living a happier life than before. This is because I have made a major step in life by building a house for my family. It is my first time in life to live in an iron sheet roofed house and I would not have been able to achieve this at my own cost. Building this house has also enabled my family to live without any fear of being rained on during the rainy seasons like before.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
I spent my transfer to buy some building materials to use in building a more spacious house for my family. I settled on this since the one were living in was small and could not accommodate us comfortably. Apart from it being small, it was old and its roof was always leaking and the walls had some cracks. We were always living in fear that it would collapse anytime. Also, I spent some amount on my family's welfare. I bought some decent clothes for each one of us and enough food to last us for some time. I still have some amount that I am saving so that I can use in case of an emergency.
Enrolled
access_time over 4 years ago
What does receiving this money mean to you?
I am planning to build a new house with $200 of my first transfer and make an upfront payment of my daughter's school fees for the remaining part of the year in a local day secondary school. This will cost another $60.
What is the happiest part of your day?
The happiest part of my day is in the evening having to come home to my children with food. When I am not looking after my cow, I am in the village engaging in menial jobs so as to be paid in kind in the form of sweet potatoes to take to my children in the evening. Seeing them happy also puts a smile on my face.
What is the biggest hardship you've faced in your life?
My life would be different if I had enough piece of land to grow maize for subsistence and even better if our climatic conditions were conducive enough to sustain my farming. All this is wishful thinking because we live in an ASAL area synonymous with rocky terrain which is bad for farming. This has frustrated my efforts to provide food for my family and generate income for other basic needs. This is the biggest hardship I've faced in my life. In my community, going to bed on a full stomach is so underrated! Since we've never grown maize for the past one year, most families rely on black tea and sweet potatoes for food while others sleep hungry. We have been overdoing this and my big worry is that children stand the risk of getting malnourished.
