GDLive Newsfeed
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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over 2 years ago
Zawadi
enrolled.
"I am struggling to pay school fees for my seven children in school. What pains me the most is that my firstborn son is in form four and financially I am strained. I vend charcoal for a living and in a month I earn 1000 KES, my husband who is a motorcycle driver earns 8000 KES a month, almost all the money he earns goes to pay off the motorcycle he bought for hire purchase. Days my children are out of school for arrears are more than the days they are in school. I desire to see them in school always so that they are on par with their peers."
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over 2 years ago
Reuben
enrolled.
"I am so delighted knowing that in a couple of months once I start receiving these transfers I will get some aid in paying off the motorcycle I took on hire purchase. I pay the company 2000 KES every week and it has been a hustle. I am required to clear the balance by next year's June and with, the transfer I am guaranteed that at least once a week I will be able to pay them with ease.
My next course of action once I am done with the above, I will build a two-roomed house. I would love to have a big modern house where I can live comfortably with my children. I have a budget of around 90000 KES. I know this is doable since my two wives will be receiving this money. We will do this together."
(Occupation: Motorcycle or bicycle taxi)
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over 2 years ago
Lina
enrolled.
"Lack of a stable source of income is the main challenge facing my family. I am a jobless woman depending on my spouse, who works as a motorist to meet our basic needs. On a good day, he takes home KES 500. This is not enough to take care of our family's needs. I look at my children and I get worried about their future because I do not have any economic activity. This has rendered us hopeless. I plan to change this situation by using KES 30000 from givedirectly to start a kiosk in the village. I will then use the remaining amount to invest in livestock farming."
(Occupation: Motorcycle or bicycle taxi)
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over 2 years ago
Daniel
received a $474 initial payment.
"With the transfer, I was able to buy a second-hand motorcycle. Since I bought a motorcycle, I have experienced a tremendous improvement in my living standard. My household's income has gone up and I can comfortably support my family. Having a motorcycle is therefore the biggest difference in my life. It is a real asset that will in the long run help me in raising additional income that can adequately support the family. As a result of increased income, I have begun to build up my savings purposefully for my children's education. I have also been able to conveniently buy a new set of clothes for my children. This was previously unthinkable."
(Occupation: Motorcycle or bicycle taxi)
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over 2 years ago
Benard
received a $474 initial payment.
"When I received my transfers, I spent KES 33,000 on a dairy cow. This is now a source of milk. Initially, I used to buy a liter of milk for five years which was quite costly. This is because I used to work as a casual motorcycle rider and layman on construction sites. I used to get KES 200 a day. Since I bought the cow, the household expenses have been reduced.
I also spent KES 5,000 on reducing a land debt I had bought three years ago from a neighbor.
I also spent KES 2,000 on half a bag of maize. This is because I have a young family and my kids need to eat to grow. Initially, I used to spend KES 300 daily on household items but this has reduced.
I also spent KES 10,000 on the latest clothing fashion which is more decent. This is because the clothes we had become old and worn out and this will be key on special occasions."
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over 2 years ago
Changawa
enrolled.
"I am planning to use KES 50,000 from the GiveDirectly transfers to pay for my motorbike loan. I have a pending loan for the motorcycle I use for my day to day work. Paying the pending loan balance will enable me get a new motorbike on loan. With two motorbikes, I will be able to make more in a day and this will aid me in helping my father raise my siblings. I will use the balance from the transfers to renovate my house by instilling concrete walls."
(Occupation: Motorcycle or bicycle taxi)
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over 2 years ago
Raphael
enrolled.
"Receiving this money is an encouragement and inspiration to my efforts to prosper despite the fact that age has caught up with me. The uplifting that GiveDirectly has done collectively to households in this region has made determined progress in opening up the economy over the past 3 years. I am a shopkeeper in town I have already felt the economic impact that these transfers have done to the people. It has been able to sustain my business despite the hard economic times that other shopkeepers from other towns in this region were not able to endure. It is like a bonus to me to get these transfers and we would like to open up our business to start doing wholesale distribution of household goods to small kiosks that do retail business in various villages. We will buy a motorcycle with these transfers to enable us achieve this dream."
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over 2 years ago
Kenga
enrolled.
"I run a small shop by the roadside. I started it last year and I need to grow it more. I sell very few commodities and I would like to add more stock using this money so that I can get more income. I also plan to save 15,000 KES of the transfers so that I can buy a second hand motorcycle. This is a long term plan because I incur a lot of transportation cost. One trip to and from the market costs me 500 KES. I go to the market twice a day to get goods to sell."
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over 2 years ago
Rehema
enrolled.
"The limited income has really made me struggle a lot in providing from my family. I depend on my farm to get food and money but it's been almost 2 years since I harvested anything from my farm. I mainly depend on my spouse who is a motorcycle taxi rider. This job does not earn him much. The need that worries me most is money for medical emergencies. I have been struggling with ulcers myself and sometimes I lack money for medication.."
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over 2 years ago
Beatrice
received a $458 second payment.
"In my opinion GiveDirectly did well by giving us money without conditions and this empowered us to spend the money in the ways we did. Having cleared for a motorcycle that would have taken us ages to clear in installments is a thing that I get to be proud of. I feel so much happy about this and looking forward to achieving a lot from the proceeds of this business."
(Occupation: Motorcycle or bicycle taxi)
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