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 7 pm and we were just preparing supper when I heard a message notification from my phone. My daughter was at home doing some of the daily chores, I inform her to check the message. She said that it was a message confirming that GiveDirectly has sent KES 55,000. I felt so happy because I have never received such an amount of money before. We were all happy and we celebrated with my family members. We planned on how to spend the money and later went to withdraw. We are so grateful for the support because GiveDirectly has improved our living standards.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life since you started receiving payments from GiveDirectly.
The biggest difference in my daily life is that I have purchased a water tank. We used to work for quite a long distance to collect clean water and this was tedious and time-consuming. I have wanted to own a water tank but I did not have the money. I depend on family and dairy-keeping projects. The money from these two projects is so small and it was not enough to buy a water tank. We were being exposed to water-related diseases. When I received the transfer from GiveDirectly I felt so happy and the priority was to purchase a water tank. Currently, we no longer walk for that long distance to collect the clean water since we can harvest from the rain. We are no longer being exposed to water-related diseases like before. We are so grateful because GiveDirectly has changed our living standard to be much better than before.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
I spent KES 25,000 on purchasing a water tank for storing clean water for domestic uses. This was my priority since we would walk for long distances to collect clean water for domestic uses. This was so tedious and time-consuming. Currently, I have a water tank and I have saved enough time to do other daily chores. we have access to clean water unlike before. I paid KES 10,000 for the school fees for my daughter who is in secondary school. This was a big challenge for me since there was no other source of income apart from small-scale farming and the income from the sales of my farm produce. My daughter would be sent home and this was affecting her performance. Currently, she is studying well without being disturbed. The remaining amount of money I spent on Food and other household items.
Enrolled
access_time over 2 years ago
What does receiving this money mean to you?
I am a mother of five. I cannot get to harvest rainwater since I do not have a tank. We depend heavily on small-scale farming, crops like maize, beans, and sweet potatoes. water is scarce in our area, with the only water point being approximately kilometers away. I'm old now, I am no longer able to go to the river as many times as I used to do before. This is hard for me hence I have been planning to buy a water tank. With this money, I plan to use KES 40,000 to get a 5,000-liter tank. For the rest of the amount, I will use it to pay school fees for my children.
What is the happiest part of your day?
My happiness is that for the last 6 months, my family and I have not gone to any hospital for medical reasons. This is a blessing to the family since we can not afford the hospital bills most of the time.
What is the biggest hardship you've faced in your life?
The main challenge is insufficient finances. I used to depend on my chicken, selling eggs and earning an income. Of late there has not been much egg production due to poor feeding. This means I lost my sources of income and life has been so hard for my family.
