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 biggest difference in your daily life.
The biggest difference in my daily life is that I have built a better and spacious house for my family. We used to live in a small mud house that could not host all my family members comfortably. We could sleep with my children in one room which acted as a kitchen, sitting room, and a kitchen at the same time. I depend on casual jobs in the village to earn an income to meet all the basic needs including paying school fees for my children in school. I had no extra money to save to enable me to build a house. My sons could go to the neighbor's house to spent the night there. This was so risky because of the movement at night. Currently, I have a bigger and spacious house in which we live comfortably. I no longer shy away to welcome visitors into my house like before. I used to shy away because I did not have a good house to host them. I am so happy because GiveDirectly has changed our standard of living.
Describe the moment when you received your money. How did you feel?
The moment I received my money I felt so happy. I remember it was very early in the morning when I heard a message from my phone. When I checked it I could not believe my eyes because I have never received such amount of money before. I immediately inform my children who celebrated a lot. I knew from that point that I will be in a position to build a better house.
What did you spend your first transfer on?
I spent my first transfer to built a better and spacious house for my family. We used to live in a small mud house that could not host all my family members comfortable and the rest of the money I used it to buy a dairy cow and food for the family.
Enrolled
access_time over 4 years ago
What does receiving this money mean to you?
I was very excited when I heard that GiveDirectly will be enrolling people in my village.I felt that finally my dream of expanding my house will be fulfilled as well as owning another cow.My current house is very small and can hardly accomodate all the eight members of my family.Getting comfortable sleep is often a problem especially for the young children.I will also buy a cow to add to the one I have so that with milk proceeds I can be able to meet the needs of my family
What is the happiest part of your day?
Once the childrwn leave for school,I start working on my small farm.Most of the time I am weeding or planting depending on what season it is.At 11 AM,it is then time to proceed to the forest to fetch firewood for sale.It is not something I enjoy doing because I keep destroying the young tress whenever they start to grow but it is the only means to earn money here.In the afternoon I return home with firewood strapped on my back and very tired.When I arrive home and sell,I am finally happy because I know that at the end of the day I will be able to buy food for my family
What is the biggest hardship you've faced in your life?
When my sister- in- law passed on four years ago,her children were left under my care.She died at childbirth meaning that she left a newborn.It has been very difficult to care for her four children as well as three of my own.I am a single parent and you can imagine having to depend on a very small piece of land to provide enough food to eat as well as some to sell in order to meet the other needs.I have even resorted to selling firewood which I get from a forest quite far from home.Raising such a big family all alone has been the biggest hardship I have faced
