Siprosa, Jane, and Teresia spoke to our backcheck team this week about their hardest moments, their proudest moments, and how they plan to spend their cash transfers.
Interestingly, all three randomly selected recipients are widows. Our enrollment data shows that widows make up about 24% of those surveyed in this community.
Siprosa
Siprosa lives in the Kenyan county Rachuonyo North with four children ages 30, 18, 16, and 1 years old.
Siprosa: I would like to use the money to pay [for] land which I can till and get food for my family. And finally buy a sheep that I can name after GiveDirectly.
Jane
Jane lives alone.
Jane: I would like to build a new house because this one has many cracks and can collapse anytime. I would use the rest to rear chicken and goats, which is a great source of financial security.
My darkest moment was in 2002 when my only surviving daughter died. It was hard for me to move on because she was the one who was helping me financially, thus, I was left stranded.
Teresia lives with four children ages 13, 10, 9, and 3, and has an income selling traditional medicine.
Teresia: I would like to build a house since my house is in a bad condition. Secondly I would wish to buy a cow so that I can milk my cow for sell and consumption. Finally I would like to pay school fees for my granddaughter who is a total orphan…
My hardest part of the day is in the morning when thinking of what I will eat with my grandchildren.