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.
Lilian's family
access_time over 2 years ago
Lilian enrolled.
"This is a lifetime opportunity that has come for me.I am so happy since my ambition is coming to a reality.I have always wanted to own a better house but because of the inadequacy of finance it has remained a mere dream. The one I have at the moment is leaking. It is grass thatched, old and dilapidated and I cannot even harvest rainwater for domestic use. I want to build it an a sheet roofed house that will cost me approximately KES 40000. I will use the rest of the money to buy a cow."
Ngetich's family
access_time over 2 years ago
Ngetich enrolled.
"After dropping my two school-going children early in the morning, I go back home to herd my dairy cow until mid-morning. I spend part of my afternoon hours taking the cow to the stream for water and later in the evening pick my children from school. After accomplishing the day's activities, I feel happy and relaxed in the evening."
Jumwa's family
access_time over 2 years ago
Jumwa enrolled.
"My only challenge is getting money for food, school fees, and clothing. Ever since my husband passed on it has been hard making ends meet. I only get about Ksh 40 - 120 from fetching water which is not enough to cater to all this needs."
Jumwa's family
access_time over 2 years ago
Jumwa enrolled.
"My happiest part of the day is in the evening. I do wake up in the morning to fetch water in an one hour walk distance, then later go to the forest to cut down trees for charcoal burning. I get busy from morning until late in the afternoon.It is in the evening that I get time to rest."
Kadzo's family
access_time over 2 years ago
Kadzo enrolled.
"Morning is my happiest part of the day. It is at this time when I wake up and prepare meals for my children to go to school and later perform my house chores such as fetching water and washing utensils. I enjoy doing this because I feel I am fulfilling my responsibility as a wife."
Joan's family
access_time over 2 years ago
Joan received a $497 initial payment.
"The biggest difference in my daily life is that I have purchased a donkey. I used to walk for a long distance to collect water for domestic use. This was so tiresome and time-consuming. I had always wished to own a donkey but I didn't have the money to buy one. I depend on casual jobs and small-scale farming at home. I had no extra source of income. My spouse too does casual jobs and the amount of money that she gets is so small. I could go to fetch water from the river two times a day. Due to the long-distance, I was not able to do any main work because I was so tired. Currently, I have purchased a donkey, it's so simple now to collect water from the river. I wake up very early in the morning and collect the water, this can last me until the next day. I no longer get tired, I save time. I can work on my farm unlike before. The donkey has eased the collection of water since it carries a hundred liters of water at once. I am so grateful for the support from GiveDirectly has changed our mode of working."
Evaline's family
access_time over 2 years ago
Evaline received a $497 initial payment.
"I was at home that morning with my helper when I received a notification message bearing the good news that I had received my first transfer. It was a great moment for me as I had been on the wait after making a complete list of all that I needed to spend the money on. We could not wait but to get ready immediately after confirmation, left the house to the nearby town, and after withdrawing, I purchased construction materials and the water tank. I was lucky that after such a purchase, the owner of the shop gave me free transportation of all that I had bought to my doorstep. I thanked God that I received this support and I am looking forward to seeing all the projects completed and even initiating new ones after the second transfer."
Richard's family
access_time over 2 years ago
Richard enrolled.
"Receiving this money would mean a new hope for our family in my old age. We have been through a lot of suffering and struggle in poverty from the time I started my family 40 years ago. I actually had given up totally on having a better house ever in my life. In my age I have not known how it feels like living in a iron-sheet roofed house because all my life I have been in a grass thatched house. Such a roof needs repairing almost every month and I no longer have the energy to climb up and do it. I sincerely thank Give Directly for these transfers, we shall build a better house and buy a water tank to harvest rainwater for our use."
Lina's family
access_time over 2 years ago
Lina received a $497 initial payment.
"I spent KES 30000 from my transfer to buy a dairy cow after using KES 3000 to repay my mshwari loan and I am grateful to GiveDirectly for enabling me to achieve this. We settled on this as a family since buying milk has been our norm and due to this, we usually end up spending KES 50 daily on them. As a casual laborer doing any available casual work in the neighborhood, this is expensive to me as I usually earn around KES 300 which is to be used in buying all the foodstuffs for my family. In addition to this, I used KES 1950 to buy three plastic chairs since they are portable and one can sit on them comfortably when outside the house, spent KES 1750 on a Skyplast for water storage purposes and KES 6000 on new clothes for my children. Using the remaining amount, I bought one sack of maize and other foodstuffs using KES 8000 and saved KES 2000 for emergency purposes."
Rotich's family
access_time over 2 years ago
Rotich enrolled.
"Receiving this money means better housing for my family. In many instances when we experience heavy downpours, water oozes into the house destroying the cooking area. Since the house is built is in a swampy area, my ambition has been to improve the floor using sophisticated building materials. I, therefore, intend to spend approximately KES 20,000 to buy materials and complete the whole process. I will then spend the remaining transfer to settle school fees arrears. I was so excited when I heard that Give Directly was making their entry into our village."
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