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 ($464 USD)
access_time over 2 years ago
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How is your life different than it would have been if you never received the transfer?
I do not have a new goal that I did not have before receiving the transfer because I had planned on paying the school fees for my children in various schools and completing the construction of my new house that I had started using the first transfer. I am so grateful because all this happened as planned.
In your opinion, what does GiveDirectly do well, and what does it not do well?
GiveDirectly does well by giving the money to the poor in the community to build better house, buy dairy cows and pay school fees for their children in various schools. I do not find anything that GiveDirectly did not do well.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
I spent KES 24,000 on paying school fees for my three children in secondary school. This was the priority since they were always being sent home to collect the school fees and this was affecting their performance in school. Currently, they are studying well without being disturbed and I hope to get better performance. I spent part of the money to complete the construction of my house that I started using the first transfer. I am so grateful now that the house is done. We are living comfortably. I spent the rest of the money on purchasing a cupboard, clothes, and food for my family. I am so grateful for the support because GiveDirectly has improved our living standards.
Initial Payment
Transfer Amount
55000 KES ($495 USD)
access_time 3 years ago
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Describe the moment when you received your money. How did you feel?
I was at home feeding my livestock when I received three messages consecutively. I wanted to ignore reading it at first thinking that they were Safaricom promotional SMSes but upon reading them, my heart was filled with joy as one of them was from Mpesa indicating that I had received my transfer. That particular message gave me hope that my children would finally go back to school as they had been sent back home on that day and I am happy that I received it at a time when I needed help the most.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life since you started receiving payments from GiveDirectly.
I am a casual laborer doing any available work around the village ranging from working in people's farms and fetching firewood and later selling them. I was at one point very stressed on how to get money to use in paying school fees for my children since they were constantly in and out of school despite being in day schools where we pay less until I resorted to working as a house help for my elder sister. I had to stop working for her last year after the outbreak of Covid that rendered her financially unstable and the struggle of paying school fees for them resurfaced. Currently, I am happy that I was able to pay 80% of their school fees and they're currently doing well in school as they only stayed for a day at home when they had been sent back home. Seeing them wake up early each day to go to school makes my daily life different as it gives me a reason to smile and continue working hard for their sake.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
When I received my transfer, my priority was to pay school fees for my children who had been sent back home and I am glad that I was able to spend KES 15500 from it to achieve this and also spent KES 2000 to repay a loan that I had taken. In addition, I spent KES 20000 to build a more decent kitchen for my family since the one we had was old and its roof was leaking. This always made it hard for us to prepare meals during the rainy season. Using the remaining amount, I used KES 8400 to buy two sacks of maize and other foodstuffs, spent KES 1000 to pay my milk vendor, and used KES 4400 to buy two three-seater seats since I did not have any and I always had to borrow from my neighbors whenever I got a visitor.
Enrolled
access_time over 3 years ago
What does receiving this money mean to you?
Receiving this money means that I will be able to educate my children. My husband refused to have our children proceed with their education because he believes that we are too poor to raise school fees. He has abandoned us to live on our on and ran away to a town. I have been doing casual jobs that brings in about $60 a month. However, this amount cannot cover the household expenses as well as school fees for my three children in secondary schools. I plan to spend approximately $400 to pay school fees when I get money from GiveDirectly.I will then improve my home by building a small kitchen to replace this grass thatched one. It is already too old and leaks whenever it rains.
What is the happiest part of your day?
The happiest part of my day is in the morning. Waking up early means that I can still do a lot of work to cater for my family during the day. I am happy to have an opportunity to work my farm and keep the cow that in the end will give me an income through the sale of milk and vegetables.The money I get from this is about $1 that would then, feed my household.
What is the biggest hardship you've faced in your life?
The biggest hardship is lack of money to pay school fees for my children. My husband does not support us in anyway despite the fact he has a casual job in town. I have to use the $60 that I receive from working as a house help to pay school fees for my children. It is not enough and this worries me a lot. I do not want my children to drop out of school.
