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
55000 KES ($478 USD)
access_time over 2 years ago
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How is your life different than it would have been if you never received the transfer?
I depend on both crop and dairy farming to educate my children. Three are still in primary and one just did his final examinations at the secondary school level. It is my wish to improve my farming practices and utilize my farm throughout the year so that I can generate more income from it. I am planning to start irrigation during the dry season and I am happy that GiveDirectly enabled me to acquire irrigation pipes that I will use to facilitate this. I will be using income from this project to support my children in their education to the level that they wish to attain.
In your opinion, what does GiveDirectly do well, and what does it not do well?
The transfer was unconditional and this gave us the opportunity to achieve our goals since we know our priorities in life and what would impact us positively. In addition, the advice that we were given during the enrollment process was of great impact and I am glad that GiveDirectly saw it necessary to give people a chance to decide how to spend their transfers. I do not see anything that I was not pleased with.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
I spent KES 5000 to pay school fees for my son to avoid him being sent back home after tithing KES 5000 upon receiving our second transfer. In addition, I spent KES 9000 on the purchase of two goats as live assets that I can rely on in case of an emergency since they can easily be converted to cash and they increase in number over a short period of time. Apart from this, I bought a heifer worth KES 25000, spent KES 3000 on farming, and used the remaining amount on food, clothes, and utensils that we did not have. I depend on dairy and crop farming and I mainly grow tomatoes and vegetables for sale. I am happy that with the transfer, I was able to achieve so many things within a short time that would have taken me a long time to achieve on my own and I am grateful to GiveDirectly for the support.
Initial Payment
Transfer Amount
55000 KES ($485 USD)
access_time almost 3 years ago
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Describe the moment when you received your money. How did you feel?
I heard an SMS alert enter my phone at around 1am at night. Upon checking, it was KES55000 from GiveDirectly transfers and I was very excited because I knew my financial burdens were over. I hardly slept for the better part of the night.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life since you started receiving payments from GiveDirectly.
The biggest difference in my daily life since I received the transfers is availability of adequate food for my family.This is because when there's adequate food my mind is stable and energetic enough to do my own work. Initially, I used to spent KES400 per day on food and household items which was quite tough because I relied on casual labor and sometimes on debts.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
I spent KES16000 on two goats and two sheep because they multiply fast and give birth twice a year and don't require alot of attention.I also spent KES 12000 on latest clothing fashion, KES7000 on food and household items and KES 2000 on building a goat house.The rest was spent on a hosepipe for irrigation of my crops especially during the dry season. Initially, I used to rely on tomatoes, vegetable and dairy farming in order to feed my family.
Enrolled
access_time 3 years ago
What does receiving this money mean to you?
My ambition is to be a livestock farmer and make a living from selling it at a large scale. I plan on using KES 40,000 to purchase 6 sheep and 5 goats to add to the 4 goats I already own. As time passes by I will be able to sell the livestock and make an extra income for the family. I also plan on using the rest of the cash in paying school fees for my 5 children and buying food for my family of 7.
What is the happiest part of your day?
The past 6 months have been hectic and sad for my family. I lost 3 relatives in a period of 4 months and it was straining to the family. But this brought all of us together and we have even decided to form a group and contribute money for emergencies. This will help us in terms of money problems in the family.
What is the biggest hardship you've faced in your life?
Some of the challenges I face is food security and having a stable source of income to sustain my family. I'm a subsistence farmer and I try to take advantage of the rainy season to plant enough maize and green groceries to sustain us through the drought. But lately there has been an unknown disease that has affected our farm produce especially maize and I have made a big loss in harvesting. Since I depend on the farm produce to pay for my children school fees, drought this year has made it difficult to get enough harvest and pay for their education.
