Changing Lives in Uganda: A Story of Hope and Empowerment through Direct Giving

Come across this kind of money, no strings attached, what would you spend it?

They’re put on display so that we can choose the.

Eight and one.

Well, for hundreds of thousands of people in rural Uganda, this money would be used differently. Most of these people live off of as little as one or two dollars a day, meaning getting an education, starting a business, receiving adequate healthcare or even electricity is nearly impossible. So I guess the solution is simple, right? Why don’t we just give them the money? But on second thought, giving thousands of dollars to people who have never experienced that kind of money before is extremely irresponsible. So when an organization reached out to us to help them do just that, we knew we had to fly over and find out more.

Uganda is a beautiful country and is filled with some incredible people. But when I first got approached by give directly about this program, my initial reaction was this was a terrible idea. I thought that giving an entire year’s worth of income to people that were living in extreme poverty sounded like it was a recipe for disaster.

Gim directly uses a strict selection process to identify villages most in need and signs up every single family. They then provide the recipients with a mobile phone and they create a unique pin number. The money is then sent to their SIM card so they can transact directly firstly or go to a nearby outlet and use their pin to withdraw cash from a mobile money agent. The limited work opportunities in the community has made it extremely difficult for the villagers to support their families. One of these people is Paul.

I have a noise, 2 kids. Here’s why I’m staying. My family is eating a day once. That’s, we eat once supper time. Those are the challenge you are facing.

If Paul had more money, he would not only invest in starting a business in the area, but also ensure that he and his kids can get a proper education.

My aim is to get us such kind of Singapore. Maybe that life, my life somehow improving from that part. People.

Living in extreme poverty are very limited. Most of their days taken up our menial tasks and they cannot break themselves out of the cycle of poverty that they’re stuck into.

A year ago, this was the reality for Tian and Locra. The kids had dropped out of school and finding work in the area was extremely difficult for them. But after receiving a donation from give directly, their lives changed entirely. They used the money to buy land in the area and have now started cultivating your own crops.