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.
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2nd Payment
Transfer Amount
53150 KES ($467 USD)
access_time almost 3 years ago
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How is your life different than it would have been if you never received the transfer?
Immediately after I achieved my first goal of buying a cow, I developed a plan of starting a business dealing with sales of milk. This business only required a starting capital of KES 5,000. It has picked on so well and from it, I always realize a profit of KES 500 per day. From the business profit, I have been able to raise an additional income for my household which has been in handy in terms of buying food for my family. In addition, I have found it so easy to pay for my three children's school fees with less struggle compared to moments before I was enrolled in GiveDirectly's program. Among the three children, the eldest is in college, the second one is in form four and the third one is in grade 1.
In your opinion, what does GiveDirectly do well, and what does it not do well?
In my opinion, GiveDitectly does well in giving unconditional cash transfers and nudging recipients on how to best spend their transfers. This has really made the majority of the recipients make good use of their transfers. This is a situation that has the greatest impact on our society; children are comfortably learning in school and many new houses have been built courtesy of the transfers. Personally, I have not seen what GiveDirectly does not do well.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
I spent part of my most recent transfer to improve the floor of my house. I used a total of KES 18,000 to tile its floor. This has greatly improved the outlook of my house. I am glad that I do not have to endure some clouds of dust nowadays as it was in the past. I also cemented my kitchen floor and therein put an inscription of GiveDirectly. I did this intentionally to be a reminder to me of the charity works done by GiveDirectly whenever I go to the kitchen. Since I frequently visit my kitchen, I always remember GiveDirectly for the impact it has created in my community. The rest of the transfer helped me in paying for my children's school fees.
Initial Payment
Transfer Amount
55000 KES ($497 USD)
access_time 3 years ago
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Describe the moment when you received your money. How did you feel?
The moment I received the transfer I felt so happy. I remember it was around 9am I was milking cows. When I went back to dye house I saw a message on my phone. When I checked it out I couldn't believe it, it was message confirming that I have received KES 55,000 from GiveDirectly. I felt so happy and excited. I informed my spouse and he was so happy too. We planned on how to spend the money. The first priority was to pay the debt that we had. We are so grateful for the support.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life since you started receiving payments from GiveDirectly.
The biggest difference in my daily life is that I was able to pay back the debt that I had borrowed from my friend to pay school fees for my son. When my son was joining college we didn't had some money. I do small scale farming at home. Our place is a semi-arid the harvest is so small and it's only for consumption. I did not had an extra crops to sell. My spouse is a motorcycle taxi operator. The money that he always gets is so small and it's for school fee and other basic household items. We had no extra money to clear the debt. This was not giving us peace of mind. When I received the transfer from GiveDirectly, I decided to pay the debt of KES 25,000. Currently we are so grateful and happy. We have peace of mind to do other activities without being stress up. We have devoted much of our time on doing activities that generate income to pay the school fees. I am so happy because GiveDirectly has changed our lives to be much better than before.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
I spend KES 12,000 to buy materials and cemented the floor of her house. We used to live on a dusty floor and we were being exposed to dusty particals. I paid KES 25,000 which I had borrowed a friend to pay school fees for my son who is km college. I started business a small business of buying milk and selling at a higher price to earn an income. Finally I bought food and clothes for my children. I am so happy because GiveDirectly has changed our lives.
Enrolled
access_time over 3 years ago
What does receiving this money mean to you?
My aim is to finish up constructing the kitchen house. I am not yet done with the ground and I still require some money to be able to complete it. Other financial needs had to override its completion. The floor is dusty and not conducive to serve as a kitchen. Cleaning is also a big challenge. I will use approximately Kes 10000. The rest of the money will be used to pay for the school fees for my children who are in various schools.
What is the happiest part of your day?
I am a farmer, I grow vegetables for sale. That's is what I do most time on a typical day. My happiest day is in the morning when I wake up, when the day is still fresh and has not encountered the stress of the day.
What is the biggest hardship you've faced in your life?
The biggest hardship we face here is food insecurity. It's approximately 13 years now since we last harvested maize. There was a maize disease called maize lethal necrosis disease that affected the crops. It is still there to date. So most of the time we buy food, sometimes they are expensive to meet. Our disposable income goes towards other competing needs and therefore we have no choice but to survive on indecent meals sometimes.
