GiveDirectly: Send money directly to the extreme poor

6th Payment

Transfer Amount

3470 KES ($27 USD)

3 months ago

How is your life different than it would have been if you never received the transfer?

It is now 1 year and beyond since I completed my high school education and currently doing nothing. My main goal is to continue with my education and I have been saving part of my transfers to help me pay my school fee. I also want to open a business and employ someone and the income from the business would also help in paying part of my school fee as I continue with education.

What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?

I completed my high school education last year(2022) and due to the financial challenges, I had never been lucky to further my education and pursue a course of my choice. Getting into this program would be one best way of seeing my dreams come true. I have been saving a greater percentage of the transfers that I have been receiving and with the most recent one, I managed to save KES. 2500 to cater for my school fees in the future since I am planning to join a college in September. I also spent KES. 500 on paying school fees to one of my nieces and the remaining amount of KES. 470 to cater for the medical bills of one of my sisters.

2nd Payment

Transfer Amount

3050 KES ($25 USD)

8 months ago

In your opinion, what does GiveDirectly do well, and what does it not do well?

Give directly did well to provide the funds in my village because most of us who could not complete school can now go back to school or college. Personally, all my plans to attend college would not exist if they did not enroll me in the program.

What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?

Financial constraint is one problem faced by my family due to lack of employment. I am born into a family of ten children and it has been a struggle to complete my high school education. I have planned to save and enroll in an Early Childhood Development Education (ECDE). I plan to complete my diploma and seek employment to assist my parents in educating my siblings. All my cash received of $30 is being saved towards my college tuition fees. I am planning to join early next year which will cost me $300 per year.

Initial Payment

Transfer Amount

1200 KES ($10 USD)

9 months ago

Describe the moment when you received your money. How did you feel?

When I learned that I had received my transfer, I felt so excited. I had planned to use the transfer to pay off my college fees because I had some fee arrears. Immediately I talked to my mother, who had been taking care of my ailing younger sister, and I changed my priority. Upon realizing that her condition was not good, I diverted my attention. I am glad that she is now improving. I am more at peace and proud of GiveDirectly for the financial transfer. The last time I talked to her, she expressed that the transfers from GiveDirectly have to a given extent put a mark on her life.

Describe the biggest difference in your daily life since you started receiving payments from GiveDirectly.

Since I diverted all my recent transfers to meeting some medication costs for my sister, I feel that was the honorable thing I could do then. With the transfer, I consider contributing to her medication as one of the biggest differences the transfer has in my life. I feel so good whenever I hear her talk, smile, and sound strong. What a joy to be among the countable people that have contributed towards putting a smile on her face. I am indebted to GiveDirectly for the unconditional cash transfer.

What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?

I have my younger sister that has been suffering from growth in the breast. The situation worsened to the point that she got admitted for a surgical procedure at Kenyatta Hospital. Due to the high cost of medication, our family got drained financially. Therefore, when I received my transfer I sent it all to my mother. She has been taking care of my sister. I am glad that at the moment, the procedure has been done successfully. She is now feeling better than before. She has a steady improvement. I thank God for such kind of help that has enabled me to contribute towards saving a dear life.

Enrolled

1 year ago

What does receiving this money mean to you?

I'm the seventh child out ten in this family. My father runs a shop and a kiosk to provide for his family while my mother is more of a housewife occasionally helping him in the shop. I finished my high school education a year ago and I haven't mange to join any college because he doesn't have funds for that right now. This is mostly because he still has my younger sister who finished class eight two years ago and yet to village polytechnic, and also a younger brother who's currently down with kidney cancer awaiting operation to remove the affected organ in four months time. Sadly enough, I have no option but to struggle and make things work out for me on my own. Receiving this money will just grease this process. I want to first spend my transfers to start a business preferably mpesa or general shop as a way of building more savings to get college fees so that I can later enroll for Early Childhood Development course.

What is the happiest part of your day?

I was very happy when I received my results for the national examination that marks the end of high school education. I really celebrated a pass for obvious reasons; first, I only attended classes for the first third of that year before a strike broke out and interrupted everything. Secondly, I did not get to go back after the strike because my father could not afford to pay 25000 KES that I owed then.

What is the biggest hardship you've faced in your life?

My biggest challenge is inadequacy of financial resources. I finished my high school education a year ago but haven't join a college die to the fact that my father isn't able to afford it. He is currently focused on funding my younger brother's medical needs. The boy is hospitalized as we speak taking rounds of chemotherapy while awaiting an operation to remove one of his kidneys.