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Grace

Country:

kenya

Occupation:

Subsistence farming

Age:

Campaign

Kenya Standard Remote

Upcoming Stage

Next Payment

Follow to be updated on Grace's next check-in.

Initial Payment

Transfer Amount

20000 KES ($160 USD)

2 months ago

Describe the moment when you received your money. How did you feel?

It was never too long after the initial meeting, which was full of information that would help us safeguard our transfer before we received the first transfer. Around 1:00 PM, I received a message notification confirming the receipt of the first transfer after reviewing the content. I was at home at the time with my spouse and two children, with whom we rejoiced after informing them of the good news. We continued to plan until the second day when I went to the nearby shopping center to collect the entire amount.

Describe the biggest difference in your daily life since you started receiving payments from GiveDirectly.

The construction of a pit latrine with an extra space that we use as a bathroom is the most noticeable difference in my daily life. After a heavy downpour that split the village in two, an encroaching lake destroyed our old home. We had to relocate, and I am relieved that we have now settled, built new houses, and are hoping to build other structures so that we will not have to relocate again in the event of a disaster.

What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?

We relocated to a new location away from the lake to avoid floods as well as crocodile, hippos, and snake attacks. A lot was missing in the new home that we wished for but could not afford due to financial constraints. We prioritized the construction of a pit latrine with an extra space serving as a bathroom upon receiving the first transfer. When we were pressed, we ended up turning to the bush, which exposed not only my family to waterborne diseases but also the entire community, which came into direct contact with moving water full of dirt during rainy seasons. As a result, we spent $120 digging a 10-foot-deep pit, buying two bags of cement, and paying labor costs to construct a decent latrine. I also purchased a $60 sack of maize, which we are currently using with my current family of four, and spent the remaining amount on other household goods that we were missing. I am grateful for the evident transformation in such a short period of time and hope to do more with the subsequent transfer.

Enrolled

5 months ago

What do you plan to do with the cash transfer?

My greatest achievement in life is to see my five children living a better life in future. I personally dropped out of school at an early age due to lack of school fees. The struggles I have gone through has made me enroll three of them in boarding secondary schools. We keep livestock ( goats and cows) inorder to meet all their basic needs including good education but because of unpredictable weather patterns and lack of enough pasture, it fetches low prices. We have $300 school fees in arrears and they are sent home once in a month. This affects there performance as they spend most of their time at home. I will be happy when I receive the transfers because it will help pay the school fees they will comfortably study and improve on their performance. The rest of the money I will invest in poultry keeping for income sustainability.

What is the happiest part of your day?

Food security for my family is what brings me happiness. Despite living in a semi-arid area, I harvested fifteen bags of maize two months ago. With the help of a loan that I borrowed from a local bank, I leased 1 acre piece of land and planted maize. I was able to sell ten bags which earned me $ 500 and stored the other five bags for home consumption.

What is the biggest hardship you've faced in your life?

I rely on livestock keeping to earn a living but it comes with its own share of challenges like diseases. Sometimes it is expensive to purchase medicine and vaccines. Three months ago, I lost fifty goats to a viral disease which was a big loss. We have never recovered financially from it at thesame time we fear investing more in livestock. This could be controlled if we had better veterinary services in our area which I feel is a lapse from the government.