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 around 8 am and I was going about my usual daily activities at home when suddenly, I heard some people in my neighborhood saying that the transfers had been sent. On hearing this, I immediately went to the house and I checked on my phone to see if I had also received it. I saw that I had a new message, and on opening it, I was surprised when I read that I had received KES 55000 in my mobile money account. I was so happy and I came out calling my wife and telling her about the good news. She was so happy on hearing this and we thanked God for everything. We then sat down later and we planned how we were going to spend it.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life since you started receiving payments from GiveDirectly.
The transfer has brought a very big difference into our lives as a family. This is because we now have another cow that is supplying us with milk for our consumption. As a result, we are no longer incurring the cost of buying milk like before. We also managed to buy maize for our consumption which is going to push us for a while before it gets finished. I have thus managed to save some money that I make from my business since the food expenses have been reduced.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
We spent KES 35000 of our recent transfer on buying a cow. We bought a lactating cow so that we could have milk for our consumption. The cows that we had, had dried and hence we didn't have a source of milk. We were hence buying it. We usually share the milk from our cows with our sons' families. Other than that, we spent another KES 8000 on buying two bags of maize for our consumption. We usually plant maize but they do not usually do well due to some disease. We thus usually harvest very little which is only enough to push us for a while before we start buying again. Buying food, that is, maize and milk are thus what usually takes up most of the money that I make from my hotel business. With the remaining transfer amount, we spent it on paying school fees for one of our children and buying clothes for ourselves. We are thus grateful to GiveDirectly for their big support.
Enrolled
access_time almost 3 years ago
What does receiving this money mean to you?
I have a hotel in Chebunyo town that I run with my wife. It has been running for the longest time and through this, we have been able to educate our children and feed them too. Receiving this money will be a big boost to the hotel because we plan to use KES 10000 to expand the building and add other varieties of food that will attract more customers and in turn increase the income that we earn from the hotel. This will allow us to expand the house that we live in now that we have grandchildren to host from time to time and pay school fees for one of my grandchild that we stay with.
What is the happiest part of your day?
I saved some money that I got from the hotel and managed to buy a sheep that has since given birth. This has brought me joy because I know that my asset is multiplying and will be of benefit to me in the future.
What is the biggest hardship you've faced in your life?
We have been doing this hotel business for a long time but the returns are less. The unavailability of capital to expand it has been our major challenge since the only money that we get is through this and this, in turn, has affected our spending areas such as buying food and paying for school.
