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.
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2nd Payment
Transfer Amount
55000 KES ($452 USD)
access_time 2 years ago
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How is your life different than it would have been if you never received the transfer?
I planning on staring a cereal business, I will be selling maize and beans. There is a high demand for maize and other cereals in our area. There are so many schools around and these would be my potential customers. This will be an additional source of income to pay school fees for my children and meet other additional basic household needs.
In your opinion, what does GiveDirectly do well, and what does it not do well?
The training was perfectly done and most of the people understood the program. Since the money was unconditional most of the people invested in a different project that they had always wished to accomplish. I do not find anything that GiveDirectly did not do well.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
I spent $450 on purchasing a dairy cow. This is because I used to buy milk daily and this was so costly for me since I did not have a steady source of income. I would spend $5 per week on milk. I rely on small-scale farming, I plant maize, beans and vegetables. These are mostly for consumption and I would sell extra to earn an income to pay school fees for my two children in secondary school and three in primary. I had always wished to own a dairy cow but I did not have the money to buy one. I would only struggle to pay the school fees and buy food for my children. Currently, I no longer buy milk and I can save the money that I would have used to meet other basic household items. GiveDirectly has enabled me to fulfill my dream and I am so grateful for the support. Besides that I spent $40 on purchasing hens, This will be my additional source of income since I will be selling the eggs to get an income. The remaining amount of money I spent on food and clothes for my children.
Initial Payment
Transfer Amount
55000 KES ($473 USD)
access_time over 2 years ago
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Describe the moment when you received your money. How did you feel?
I was taking my breakfast when I went back to check the phone where I had left there was a message. The message was confirming that I have received some money from GiveDirectly. I felt so happy because I have never received such an amount of money before. When I informed my family everyone was so happy with the good news. I knew I would be able to purchase a dairy cow. I stayed for five days planning with my family on other expenditures. This was one of the happiest days of our lives that I will never forget.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life since you started receiving payments from GiveDirectly.
The biggest difference in my daily life is purchasing a dairy cow. This is because I used to buy milk and this was so costly. I depend on doing small-scale farming and the business of selling cereals. These two activities who earn me some amount but I was not able to purchase a dairy cow. I had other household expenses including paying school fees for my children. I had always wished to own a dairy cow but I did not have the money. Currently, I no longer buy milk. I no longer stress up like before. I can save the money that I would have used in buying milk for other activities. I am so grateful because My children get enough milk and I sell the extra milk to earn some amount to meet other needs. GiveDirectly has changed our living standards.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
I spend KES 38,000 on purchasing a dairy cow. I used to buy milk and this was so costly since I do not have a continuous source of income. I spent part of the money on doing shopping for my children who were going back to some that period. The rest of the money I used on purchasing food and other household items that we were lacking.
Enrolled
access_time over 2 years ago
What does receiving this money mean to you?
Receiving this amount will really boost my living standard. I will use partial amount to buy food stuffs such as maize and other retail shop products for my children. I will also channel some amount to boost my cereals stock at Chebunyo market which has been stagnating at 15 bags of beans and 20 bags of maize which does not meet the demand. Atimes we pick unpaid stock to be paid after sells. This translates to exploitation by the seller.
Finally I purpose to buy a dairy cow for home milk consumption and sell the surplus to milk vendors. The returns from milk vendors will enable me buy other food products and even pay my household's in-house bills.
What is the happiest part of your day?
Despite low profit margin of my cereals business, I can comfortably state that I have been happy since my children have never gone short of basic needs such as food, education, clothing and shelter.
What is the biggest hardship you've faced in your life?
Currently I don't milk and thus pushing me to buy the same from vendors. I buy 3 litres of milk a day which costs ksh.150 a day translating to ksh.4500 a day which I consider much expensive in the long-run compared to owning a dairy cow. Picking unpaid stock of cereals pains me most since higher profit margin falls in sellers hands. I feel that, I don't benefit much from my hardwork and efforts.
