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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Newsfeed > Katana's Profile
Katana's family
Katana
landscapeCountry:
kenya
workOccupation:
Casual labor
workCampaign
Kenya Basic Income
Upcoming Stage
Next Payment
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Follow to be updated on Katana's next check-in.
 
22nd Payment
Transfer Amount
3470 KES ($23 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 objective for the upcoming year is to ensure that my son enrolls in Junior Secondary School. I firmly believe that investing in education is pivotal for a brighter future. To achieve this goal, I have consistently set aside savings each month in a dedicated savings club. Fortunately, I am scheduled to receive the total accumulated amount this January, perfectly timed for the commencement of the new school term. With these savings and additional transfers, I will be able to procure the necessary items such as uniforms, books, and other essentials for my son. I express gratitude towards this organization, as it has profoundly assisted my family in realizing this important educational milestone.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
I make a living by selling building poles, but my business has faced challenges due to a scarcity of trees. By diligently saving these earnings, I aim to provide an education for my four children and construct a new home. In the past, financial constraints made life difficult for my family. With a wife and four children, managing expenses became especially challenging. To address immediate needs, I allocated $38 towards purchasing food when we found ourselves without sustenance. Additionally, I used an additional $34 to repay a debt incurred from the purchase of a cow, a transaction that had yet to be settled. The remaining funds were prudently saved through participation in a savings club, ensuring a secure financial foundation for future endeavors. I am happy that GiveDirectly has played a pivotal role in positively transforming my life.
 
18th 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?
First and foremost, I want to invest in keeping goats, which will provide me with a valuable source of income in the future. With the income generated from selling goats, I aim to build a better and more stable house for my family. Currently, our living space is far from ideal, with a roof made of a polythene bag and just three pieces of iron sheets. Beyond improving our living conditions, I have always had a dream of working as a driver. To achieve this, I would be happy to start driving college. I am determined to work hard and use the opportunities presented to me, including the cash transfers, to build a better future for my family.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
Upon receiving the cash transfers, $2 was automatically deducted to repay a mobile money loan. From the remainder, I allocated $12 for food, $10 to save for future expenses and $9 to cover school fees for my four children. While the transfers have provided some relief, our situation remains challenging, especially in terms of food security. We are yet to harvest, and hunger continues to be a significant concern. Unfortunately, due to my lack of formal education and expertise in other areas, my options for earning a living are limited.  My main source of income is cutting and making building poles, relying on orders from people who need them for construction. In July, the situation was particularly tough, and my family even experienced two consecutive days of going hungry. However, the cash transfers have brought some improvement, allowing us to at least afford a meal on most days. I have also been saving money on the merry-go-round, which will eventually enable me to purchase goats for rearing. These goats will serve as an additional source of income. Despite the challenges we face, I remain hopeful that with the support of the cash transfers and my efforts to save and buy livestock, we can gradually improve our living conditions.
 
14th Payment
Transfer Amount
3470 KES ($27 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?
I wish to construct a new house for my family. My current shelter is roofed by polythene paper, something that embarrasses me. I need to build a more decent two-room house with mud walls and a tine roof. For this to be successful sooner, I pray for the rains to come and support food crop production. This will allow my wife and me to save enough from the cash transfers to build the new structure. After the house is done, I plan to enroll in driving school. Regardless of my advanced age, I have always been passionate about driving and I believe the skills could earn me a better job to support my family. 
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
To make a living, I cut and sell building poles. Unfortunately, following the persistent drought in my region, most people shy away from building houses. Many are more focused on providing for their families that constructing new structures. As a result, there is not much I can make from my job. This has made me mostly rely on cash transfers to buy food and pay school fees for my four children. Recently, I spent $20 on maize flour as the household had run out of food for the last two days. Am grateful, there is still enough food in my house. Next, I saved $10 through a merry-go-round club. In August, I plan to withdraw my accumulated savings to build a new more decent house. 
 
10th Payment
Transfer Amount
3470 KES ($28 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 can't fit my entire family in my grass-thatched shelter (wife and four children). This year, my main objective is to make sure I have enough money saved from my subsequent transfers to purchase ironsheets, building poles, and nails that will help me build a new house. After constructing a house, I also want to purchase some livestock. The devastating effects of the drought have rendered our farms no longer productive. By engaging in livestock farming, I will have a different source of income that I can use to earn a living through selling the livestock later on at higher prices.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
I was relieved to get the transfer because my obligations and debts had begun to weigh on me, and it had been a month since my last $6 sale of tree poles. In addition, the $20 that my daughter had sent me had been exhausted. Thanks to the transfer, I managed to clear a $4 airtime debt that had remained unpaid for three weeks, enabling me to make calls again. I also paid back $4 that I had borrowed from my mother earlier in the month to purchase food for my wife and four children. $3 was used to settle an outstanding school fee amount for my fifth-grade son, who had been missing lessons as a result. I contributed $10 to a merry-go-round club in my community in the hopes of earning a lump sum amount next year to replace the polythene paper roof on my house with iron sheets. Finally, I spent $13 on food for my family, who had survived on a single meal for the previous two days due to a lack of funds. I am grateful that I no longer have debts to bear, that my kid is studying peacefully, that the household has enough food for the next four days, and that I can now afford tea for breakfast.
 
6th Payment
Transfer Amount
3050 KES ($26 USD)
access_time over 1 year ago
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What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
I spent the majority of my transfer on necessities such as food (KES 1,600) and school fees (KES 800) for my three children. This is because I lack a stable source of income to fully cover such expenses, which makes hunger the biggest issue in my household.  I support my family by cutting and selling tree poles for house construction. Sometimes, it takes an entire week to earn an order for KES 300; so am forced to ask for financial help from friends and relatives to buy food.   Mercifully, the food I secured through the transfer lasted us eight days, and my children were able to continue their studies peacefully. I saved the rest of the money through a self-help group. The goal is to raise KES 12,000 in a lump sum to purchase goats for rearing.
 
2nd Payment
Transfer Amount
3050 KES ($26 USD)
access_time almost 2 years ago
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In your opinion, what does GiveDirectly do well, and what does it not do well?
GiveDirectly is doing well by providing this support program on a monthly basis,but in my opinion with the problems am going through it would have done better if they offered the funds in Lumpsum.I would be grateful if I managed to build my house in the next few months before the rains come.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
Poverty and education are inextricably linked , I am born and and raised in poverty hence dropped from school when I was class three.The only way have been earning income has been cutting trees and selling them.My wife is also not educated and dropped from school as well ,she struggles to work as charcoal burner which earns her at most KES 500 for a sack of charcoal.Financial constraints have been the biggest hardship we have to go through as a family because with the charcoal business it may take two weeks before getting any income ,on the other hand I only cut trees on order and I earn KES 300 on the higher side.I spent KES 2000 on food which included various types of vegetables and used KES 1000 to pay some of the debts I had.I was at ease for a moment because providing food for my family of six members has not been a bed of roses.
 
Initial Payment
Transfer Amount
1200 KES ($11 USD)
access_time 2 years ago
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Describe the moment when you received your money. How did you feel?
I was on my way to attend a village meeting because am elder.Earlier that morning had sent one of my children to charge my phone and hence I didn't have my phone with me at that particular moment.It was 9am when one of my relatives that we attend the meeting with was excited and said she had received the transfers. I Immediately told her to go with me where my phone was charging in order for her to check for me if I received the funds as well because I am unable to read or write.She agreed and it was that moment that I learned I received the funds.I was happy and went home to share the information with my wife .
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life since you started receiving payments from GiveDirectly.
The biggest difference in my daily life is with my current financial constraints, GiveDirectly has given me monthly transfers that are helping me provide food and educate my children.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
Due to famine faced in my area,upon receiving of this transfer I bought food with KES 900 and the remaining KES 300 I partly paid the school fees arrears of KES 1290 for my eldest son.Its been quite a struggle to support my family because my work entails cutting of trees and selling them for KES 60 per piece.On a good day I only get orders which pay a maximum of KES 300 and its normally not consistent and not enough to sustain my family of seven members
 
Enrolled
access_time over 2 years ago
 
What does receiving this money mean to you?
My family is already grateful and hopeful that receiving this cash transfer will be a turning point in our lives, we see a brand future where we will get opportunity to live descent lives like normal people, where we can support our big family with the basic needs and even educate our kids who cannot even school for lack of fees, and am worried if they will ever learn, but as we are expecting the transfers it's evident that we will plan accordingly and we hopeful we will live life to the fullest.
What is the happiest part of your day?
In the past months my kids have been ailing from flu and headaches and as a family, we have been in and out of hospitals, recently in I have been waking up to happy days, everyone is smiling and carrying their duties without any challanges, and am hopeful that God will keep protecting them.
What is the biggest hardship you've faced in your life?
I have stayed in this village for 14 years, I have a family of 7 kids, where I lost 5 kids to malaria, due to the current issues that our family is living in. I lack proper housing, I previously have moved from 4 different areas where I was living in shacks and my houses didn't survive the strong winds and the rains, and at now when it rains, we have to stay awake or children sleep while standing as the sleeping area gets muddy.this makes me fear fear more that our children to be at risk of contracting more water borne diseases. I am struggling to make my family live in a more comfortable way, at aleat a spacious house , this one doesn't have any privacy and I cannot even host other family members or friends. Another challenge is the drought we are currently facing, I cannot afford 3 meals a day, so as parents we have to sacrifice for our kids to get at least one meal a day, we lost all our livestock and currently we have nothing to depend on.