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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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Enrollment
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Transfers
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Completed
Newsfeed > Zawadi's Profile
Zawadi's family
Zawadi
landscapeCountry:
kenya
workOccupation:
Small business
faceAge:
34
workCampaign
Kenya Large Transfer
There will be no further updates from this completed recipient.
2nd Payment
Transfer Amount
53150 KES ($464 USD)
access_time 2 years ago
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How is your life different than it would have been if you never received the transfer?
I was privileged to start a fish buying and selling business in our local market with part of the transfers. It is doing well, and I am grateful for the milestones but I still have a new goal to include a greengrocery business alongside it so that it becomes an all-inclusive business. My customers will not have to look for tomatoes, vegetables, and fruits from other shops. This will increase my profits at the end of the day.
In your opinion, what does GiveDirectly do well, and what does it not do well?
I like the fact that the Give Directly staff visited every household in the village providing us with all the information we needed about the money and responding to all our questions without discrimination. Later they sent us the money directly to our phones without involving a third party. This not only ensured our safety, but we got empowered too. So far I have not heard of anyone who was not satisfied with the work done by this organization.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
I exhausted the first transfer when I was left with the roofing of my new house that was under construction. The budget I had initially was a bit strained hence I could not afford to complete it. On receiving the second transfer, I spent 32500 KES on the completion. I am glad that our house is not leaking anymore and my children too now have room to sleep in. They are now safer since they no longer walk at night to neighbors' houses for a sleeping space. I also bought three goats at 10000 KES. I plan to exchange some of the young ones in the future for an ox which will come in handy during plowing seasons. I still have 10000 KES set aside for my children's next term school fees.
 
Initial Payment
Transfer Amount
55000 KES ($484 USD)
access_time 2 years ago
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Describe the moment when you received your money. How did you feel?
I was at home fetching water in the evening when I got a message notification on my phone. I stopped what I was doing to check what the message was about and to my surprise, I had received money from Give Directly. I have never experienced such a happy moment in my life before. I thanked God for the surprise but still rushed to my helper to check if indeed there was money in my Mpesa account because I could not believe it.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life since you started receiving payments from GiveDirectly.
The biggest difference in my daily since I started receiving the transfers is the happiness of knowing that my new and better house is almost complete. Finally, I will soon afford a peaceful night. The current house is in a bad shape, part of the roof was blown off by wind while the other part is infested by termites all over. The walls too had been washed off by the rain and it has holes all over. Every time I go to bed I have to pray so that we do not experience strong wind and heavy rain because if it happens then we would be rendered homeless.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
I bought building materials (iron sheets and timber) at a total cost of KES 38200 which I am planning to use to construct a new house. The current house is on the verge of falling; the walls have holes all over while part of the roof was blown off by the wind. Since we could not afford to construct a better one, we had to risk staying in it as we prayed for God to open for us away. KES 3000 I spent on some clothing for both my children and me. Most of our clothing was worn out, so I had to purchase some so that we could look presentable while part of the money I spent on foodstuffs for the family.
 
Enrolled
access_time over 2 years ago
 
What does receiving this money mean to you?
I have a dream of building a rental house in our town so that I can collect rent . Our town is growing very fast and there is a secondary school and a dispensary of which the workers of this institutions are looking for rental houses to live in. I believe if I succced on this, then I will have a ready market for my house. Receiving this money means I will be able to fulfill my dream of building a house for renting to tenants so that I can be earning money in every month to cater for my other needs.
What is the happiest part of your day?
I got a relief food from the county government . I got 10 kilograms of rice and 2 kilograms of beans. This is a food for 2 days for my family. It gave me joy and happiness because I was relieved from hunger for 2 days.
What is the biggest hardship you've faced in your life?
Hunger is the biggest challenge in my house. I depend on charcoal burning business which is straneous and the income I get from this business is inadequate to sustain the needs of my house. My children are sent home from school very frequently because I cannot pay the school fees for all of them ontime. My children are weak and I suspect they may be suffering from a malnutrition disease because I feed them one kind of a meal each and every day (ugali with dried fish).