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
53150 KES ($442 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 do not have any new goals now. I am planning on purchasing more materials to build a better house for my family. Besides that, I still have children in various schools and this will be my area of focus for now.
In your opinion, what does GiveDirectly do well, and what does it not do well?
GiveDirectly does a very noble job in that it promotes the standard of living for the poor in the community. Most of the people who received the transfer build better houses and some purchase dairy cows among other good activities at home. I do not find anything that GiveDirectly did not do well.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
I spent KES 28,000 on purchasing bricks. I am planning on building a semi-permanent house in the future. I live in a small mud house that cannot host all my family members comfortably. I will buy other materials when I get the money from my small casual jobs. I spent KES 23,000 on paying school fees for my two children in secondary school. I am so happy because they are now studying well without being sent home like before. This was affecting their performance since they would miss some of the lessons. The remaining amount of money I spent on food and household items that we were lacking at home. I am so happy because GiveDirectly has changed our living standard to be much better than before.
Initial Payment
Transfer Amount
55000 KES ($484 USD)
access_time almost 3 years ago
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Describe the moment when you received your money. How did you feel?
It was around 11:00 pm when my children were still studying, I was about to retire to bed when I heard my phone ringing, upon checking I saw a Mpesa notification showing that I had received money from GiveDirectly, My children were the first people to know because I could not hide my joy, I then broke the good news to my husband who was overwhelmed with joy. We were all excited and happy because I knew that we would be able to pay school fees arrears for our children.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life since you started receiving payments from GiveDirectly.
The biggest difference in my life today is that I no longer worry about where I would be able to get the funds for my children's school fees, I am settled and relaxed, in that, my children can study comfortably without being sent home to collect school fees, I am grateful for the financial breakthrough in our lives that brought so much happiness and joy in our lives. It
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
My husband and I agreed that we would use our first transfer in paying school fees for our three children who are in high school, school fees as been our major challenge because we do not have a stable source of income, therefore I used KES 25,000 in clearing the fee arrears, I then used the remaining part of the transfer in stocking up foodstuffs and also bought clothes for the children. I am grateful for the support that gave us financial freedom.
Enrolled
access_time 3 years ago
What does receiving this money mean to you?
I am a parent with 2 children in high school and raising their school fees has been a source of stress to me. My husband works as a caterer in one of the hotels in Maasai Mara game reserve but due to COVID-19 he has been home for more than a year. For the time he has been out he has depleted his savings and this makes it hard for us to raise our children's school fees within the required timelines. As a result of this, my daughter had to downgrade to a local school because I could no longer afford the demands of her earlier school. Every year I pay KES 60000 towards their school fees and as things stands now I have arrears of KES 20000. Receiving this money will give me the much needed peace of mind as it will help me clear outstanding arrears as well as pay for next term.
What is the happiest part of your day?
One month ago I gave birth to a bouncy baby boy. This happened at home and I did not incur any medical expense in the process and this has been my number one source of happiness.
What is the biggest hardship you've faced in your life?
Lack of financial stability is the biggest challenge that I face at the moment. This being a drought-prone area farming is not doing well and this leaves us with the option of doing casual jobs e.g fetching firewood for sale, as a means of earning a living. This kind of jobs are unreliable because you can find only one customer in a week and the rest of the days you are just idle doing nothing meaningful. Because of this, my children are not getting nutritious food like milk and fruits and this is affecting them health-wise. Some have dropped out of school because I was not able to raise their school fees.
