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.
In your opinion, what does GiveDirectly do well, and what does it not do well?
What GiveDirectly does well is doing follow up after sending the transfers. Although the cash transfers are unconditional, asking about how we spent the money puts us on toes because we want to have done something constructive before the next follow up.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
When I received my first transfer, Christmas was approaching and I didn't have money to buy my children some decent clothes or buy food to celebrate with my family. Therefore, I spend my first transfer of KES 1200 to celebrate Christmas with my family whereby I bought clothes for my children and prepared some good meals. For the second transfer, my children had been send home for school fees and my motorbike which I use as a taxi needed repair for it to move around, It had a week since it broke down and I didn't have money for repair, I spent KES 1500 to pay school fees for my children and KES 1500 to repair the bike. I'm happy that I can move around with it and carry some passengers and earn some income and provide for my family.
Initial Payment
Transfer Amount
1200 KES ($11 USD)
access_time over 2 years ago
attach_money
Describe the moment when you received your money. How did you feel?
When I got the money, I had gone to get charcoal. So, with excitement, the first person I called was my wife to ask her if she received it. We all felt very happy since we had so many pending bills to settle at the time.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life since you started receiving payments from GiveDirectly.
I haven't noted much difference yet but I believe with my next transfers, I will be able to improve my life and that of my family. Even though I have reduced my debts with a small margin, I do not feel stuck as I did before and I am certain with time, I will settle all of them.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
Other than working as a charcoal transporter, I am also a Chama member. Since what I make from my work is around ksh150 per sac transported, I have been struggling to provide for my family. So that is why I joined the Chama to help me save and also get credit access. My wife and I currently have plans to borrow ksh30000 that we will use for home improvement. The repayment will be ksh3000 monthly for 11months and I will use my transfer to pay for it. I was to do this starting with my first transfer but it was not possible since I took a phone and I only received ksh1200. So instead, I used it to reduce my children's school fee arrears of ksh7100 by ksh500. Then ksh400 and ksh300 I used it to repair clothes and buy food respectively.
Enrolled
access_time over 2 years ago
What does receiving this money mean to you?
For a long time I have been longing to venture into real estate, but I haven't been able to get enough resources for initial capital. Right now with the government's plans under way to launch a new high school next to our shopping centre, I think I'm going to accomplish this. I already have four units of a rental structure that earns me about 4000 KES per month. As this plan rolls out the market is definitely going to surge and so I'm looking to tap in by creating ten more units in readiness.
What is the happiest part of your day?
My biggest source of joy is the academic performance of my eldest child who is in class eight and has been exceptional topping her class throughout the year. This always motivate me to work even harder and build wealth before she gets to high school so that I would be able to afford school fees comfortably.
What is the biggest hardship you've faced in your life?
It's been getting harder by the day to afford food for my family of seven effectively in this times of draught. As a motorcycle taxi operator it's hard to make more than 1000 KES per day because the industry is flooded. A lot of young men like me joined in after losing their jobs during covid19 pandemic. That has increased the number of riders tremendously as compared to the number of client's available in the village. I'm sometimes forced to ferry charcoal bags which is banned and can attract legal problems on top of being dangerous considering the bad roads we have to use.
