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?
I received a message around 4:00 p.m. that I could not hesitate to read because it was a Mpesa message. The content was simple to grasp, and seeing other people celebrating within the village confirmed that it was from GiveDirectly. I was at home with my children and spouse, who were overjoyed when I told them the news. When I was ready to spend the money, I went to get it the next day.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life since you started receiving payments from GiveDirectly.
The most noticeable difference in my daily life is the completion of a new house for my children. They are no longer suffering from cold, and they can sleep well in their new room with better bedding that is no longer affected by moist floors. I was troubled because they could not complain because we had nothing to spend on the construction, but I am now grateful for the generous support from GiveDirectly that has allowed my dream to come true.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
My house was under construction when I received my most recent transfer. This came as a relief because I had exhausted most of my resources and was considering selling some of my assets. I spent $200 on the first transfer to create a partition in the house, buy doors and windows that were still missing, and settle some labor charges. My children were in tremendous discomfort, especially during the rainy season, because they could not sleep in a leaking grass-thatched hut. My six daughters shared that space, and while it was always cold and moist on the floor due to roof leaks, they were better off than my son, who would move to the neighborhood to find a place to sleep late at night. My husband was involved in a hit-and-run accident caused by a motorcycle rider, and he has been unable to work since then, instead making frequent hospital visits. I have paid $60 for the last two hospital visits. It is a relief, though, because his health has been improving, and I still have a third, and hopefully final, check-up scheduled. I also purchased nine iron sheets for $7 each, which I intend to use to build another small house for my son. In addition, I used a portion of the remaining transfer to purchase household goods, such as utensils and clothing for my seven children, husband, and myself.
Enrolled
access_time almost 2 years ago
What do you plan to do with the cash transfer?
We were on the process of building my house.The work had stopped because of insufficient funds. Completion of the works in our house will be a great milestone, the house we live in at the moment is small and cannot accommodate all of us together with the children. My children have to go to the neighbor's house to have sleep there. I feel bad about it, especially for my daughters since I do not know what goes on in their lives during the night. I am afraid they might be taken advantage of and become pregnant at their early age.It is for this reason that we will use the money to do completion of the remaining works, we will use $ 150 and use the rest to start a poultry project.
What is the happiest part of your day?
Recently, it rained after a long time and had affected us in terms of being food secure. After the rains, food availability has improved significantly. The indigenous vegetables have sprouted and this has saved us the pain of buying at an expensive price. The grass has also grown and subsequently, it has assisted our livestock productivity in terms of milk production.
What is the biggest hardship you've faced in your life?
Sometime last month my husband was involved in a motorcycle accident that broke his hand. He is indisposed and still under medication, he hardly uses his hand to do any work.He used to engage in casual jobs and at the time of the accident he was coming from Kapkwen market where he was from doing the casual job. He is incapacitated and this has deprived us of our daily bread since he is our breadwinner.There has been some slight improvement after undergoing treatment at Longisa Referral Hospital but he is still recuperating at home awaiting the next appointment.
