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?
It was 6 Am when I was milking my cows. I heard a message notification from my phone. I stopped to check it out. It was a message confirming that I have received the money from GiveDirectly. I felt so happy and when I was done I went to inform my family members and everyone was so grateful. I knew I would be able to pay school fees for my children. GiveDirectly has changed our living standard to be much better than before.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life since you started receiving payments from GiveDirectly.
Paying the school fees for my children in various schools is the biggest difference in my daily life. This was giving me restless nights when my children were sent home to collect the school fees. My main source of income is through the poultry keeping project and farming. I would sell the produce at the market to earn some income to meet other additional basic needs of the family and pay school fees for my children. This was not enough and my children would be sent home. This was affecting their performance since they would waste time at home. When I received the money from GiveDiectely I felt so happy and found this an opportunity to pay the fees. Currently, my children are studying well and I have hope that their [performace will improve compared to previous academic years. I am so happy because GIveDirectly has enabled us to educate our children.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
I spent KES 20,000 to pay school fees for my children in school. They used to be sent home to collect their school fees and this was affecting their performance. Currently, they are studying well. I spent KES 25,000 to purchase a heifer. I will get enough milk in the future when it reproduces. The rest of the money I spend on food and clothes for my children.
Enrolled
access_time almost 3 years ago
What does receiving this money mean to you?
Paying school fees for my 2 children in secondary school will be my first priority. I will spend about KES 30,000 when I receive this transfers. This means that my children will continue learning this year without disruptions that have been occuring in over the last four years. Lack of money to pay school fees is threatening to halt their education. I will also buy a dairy cow in order to have a continuous source of income from selling milk. I will spend about KES 40,000 on this.
What is the happiest part of your day?
News about GiveDirectly coming to work in my village has been my source of happiness this year. I learnt about the good news from our village elder who called a meeting and shared the good news. He informed us that if we were funded, we would be free to choose the ways to spend the cash. This meant that I would finally end my agony of lack of school fees for my children and begin earning an income from selling milk when I buy a cow.
What is the biggest hardship you've faced in your life?
I am a subsistence farmer with insufficient income to meet my daily household needs and to pay school fees for my children. Lack of income has been brought about by the fact that farming has been doing poorly as food crops fail perennially. I therefore struggle to pay school fees for my children, having to do menial jobs to supplement the income from selling crop produce.
