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 late in the evening, and I was taking a stroll through the village after a long and exhausting day. I felt unusual happiness not long after receiving a Mpesa message notification. My joy multiplied when I remembered that people who were unrelated to me were willing to help me financially. This made me remain humbled, and I felt indebted to them for their generosity. When I checked my phone again, I was relieved to see that it was real I had received my transfer. I breathed a sigh of relief because my family was bearing some debts that I had taken earlier on to support the family as life continued to harden.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life since you started receiving payments from GiveDirectly.
My life was horrible before the transfer. I was always struggling to find money to feed my family. Many days, we could go without food. However, with the recent transfer, I am relatively relieved of the financial stress I was experiencing at the time. Fortunately, things are currently looking better. Finally, I was able to start raising livestock, which was an investment I could not make at first.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
I was able to purchase two cows for KES 45,000 and a goat for KES 7,000 from my transfer. As a result, I now have an increased asset value that I have never had before in my life. Because I have three school-aged children, this type of investment will be extremely beneficial to them because if school fees are required, I will sell some milk. Alternatively, if necessary, I will be able to sell goats and provide the anticipated financial assistance to my children. The GiveDirectly transfer has had a significant impact on my life.
Enrolled
access_time over 2 years ago
What does receiving this money mean to you?
We are a family of 3 children, 2 boys, and a girl. We are people of little means majorly depending on casual jobs of weeding other people's farms to earn a living. Our living standard is so poor because these casual jobs pay meager wages which are hardly sufficient to meet our daily needs. Every day is hard for us, there is no easy day and it worries us a lot since we live from hand to mouth. We are never certain of what the next day has for us. Receiving this money, therefore, will be a major boost for us since it will enable us to buy a dairy cow that we have always wanted to own. At the moment we buy a liter from the neighbor at KES 60 per liter which is unaffordable sometimes. It pains us a lot when our young children cry for milk which we are not able to provide them with. We plan to buy a dairy cow worth KES 30000 for milk productivity for consumption and to sell the surplus. We will use the rest of the money to build an iron sheet roofed house.
What is the happiest part of your day?
Last month I got a casual job to dig a pit latrine for my neighbour. I got a wage of KES 2000 and it helped us to buy some maize grains that we consumed for 3 weeks. It gave us a lot of joy as a family since we were able to eat well during that period.
What is the biggest hardship you've faced in your life?
Food security is what has been bothering us for a while now. We depend on casual jobs to be able to put food on the table. Some days we miss getting the jobs and we are forced to sleep hungry which is bad, especially for our children. We have lived a life of anguish that even as of now we have no idea what we will take for lunch since we have not gone to do the casual jobs today. It is very unfortunate and sad reality. We hope one day we will get out of this situation.
