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?
Receiving a confirmation message from GiveDirectly that the transfer I has been anticipating was finally in my account was the best moment in my life. I had to read through the message several times, check the account balance, and even go ahead to withdraw a little amount just to be sure that it was real money. With my family, we were thankful to God and GiveDirectly for delivering on the promise that they had given us during enrollment. This was also an assurance of the initiation of the projects we had been having in mind.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life since you started receiving payments from GiveDirectly.
The biggest difference in my daily life is the purchase of a lactating cow that has so far been providing us with milk. Even though the production is low at the moment, I am still glad that we are no longer buying more milk as we used to in the past months. This has also given us a chance to sort other household bills using the money that we would have spent on buying milk.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
After a long period of buying milk from the neighboring households that had lactating cows, GiveDirectly finally came in and open a way for us to purchase a cow as well. The cost of obtaining enough milk for my family of five was so high that we could sometimes decide to forgo for some days even though it was so hard explaining to my children. Previously we had struggled to save in bits but we could not manage to raise enough money to buy a cow but settled on a heifer instead. The first transfer we got was an opportunity for us and had to spend KES37000 on obtaining a lactating cow that has so far provided us with milk. With the remaining amount, we had to divide among other projects that we had scheduled to initiate; among them was obtaining a solar panel that came with pieces of lighting pieces of equipment at a deposit of KES4000 and a monthly installment of KES50 every day for the next nine months, we also obtained a sack of maize at KES3300, and a 25KG bag of rice at KES1800 that has given my husband an easy time as he had been dependent on the casual labor. Currently, I am glad that we can both work on our projects at the farm unlike in the previous months where we would always expect him to bring us food after his hard day in the scorching sun.
Enrolled
access_time over 2 years ago
What does receiving this money mean to you?
When I get this money I will buy a cow. I depend on milk vendors for milk selling a litre KES 40. We have financial challenges since my husband is a casual labourer at Olulunga. He is paid KES 200 per day of which this is too little to sustain all our needs. So when I buy this cow I expect to provide milk for my family and if in surplus it will be a source of income. A good cow is sold at KES 20000. We also don't have food. We source our food from the market which is also a challenge because of lack of money. Our area is prone to drought so crops withers easily due to insufficient rainfall. So part of the money will also help in buying food.
What is the happiest part of your day?
The happiest part of my day is in the evening. This is the time I get to eat dinner with my family. It makes me happy knowing my family has gotten something to eat.
What is the biggest hardship you've faced in your life?
The biggest hardship is lack of money. I depend on my husband for money and the little he get from casual jobs we use to buy food thus no money for saving or investing .
