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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.
Stages:
 
Enrollment
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Transfers
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Completed
Newsfeed > Chelangat's Profile
Chelangat's family
Chelangat
landscapeCountry:
kenya
workOccupation:
Subsistence farming
faceAge:
36
workCampaign
Standard Kenya
There will be no further updates from this completed recipient.
2nd Payment
Transfer Amount
53150 KES ($524 USD)
access_time 4 years ago
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How is your life different than it would have been if you never received the transfer?
Having no land to live on was the lowest moment of my life. I was a squatter on the land that I previously owned. With these transfers, am hoping to live a life like other people in my village. The loan that we had previously acquired destroyed our lives. We had to sell our piece of land and closed my husband's shop since we had to auction all the items in it at a lower price. When I got the transfer, the money gave me back my life. It felt like being given a second chance to mend my ways. I decided to buy a parcel of land that I will soon be constructing a home and relocate to it. Without GiveDirectly, I would have been facing an inevitable eviction from the farm with nowhere to go. I am no longer worried now that I have bought my own parcel.
In your opinion, what does GiveDirectly do well, and what does it not do well?
In my opinion, GivedDirectly did well by giving out unconditional transfers to everyone in the village. There was no exclusion based on the financial status of people in the village. This has strengthened the cohesion and oneness in our community. No one feels left out. Instead, we started working together by forming merry go round groups.
What did you spend your second transfer on?
I spent the second transfer to complete paying for a piece of land I had acquired a few months ago. I had sold the land we had after we had failed to service a loan my husband had taken. We used the loan to pay school fees for my husband's brothers who were in primary school. Since we were unable to repay the loan. we were forced to sell that land. In the process, we become squatters on our previous land as the person who bought it allowed us to stay on for a certain period of time that was almost expiring. We had been praying for a long time for a financial breakthrough that would enable us to buy our own land which was not possible until recently when n GiveDirectly gave us this money. I didn't hesitate to spend the whole transfer to buy land.
 
Initial Payment
Transfer Amount
55000 KES ($542 USD)
access_time 4 years ago
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Describe the biggest difference in your daily life.
sold the only parcel of land that I had to educate my children who were in college and university since I valued my child's success through their education. I had to request the person whom I sold the land to offer me a small piece on the same plot to stay in for some time because I had nowhere to go. The biggest difference in my daily life at the moment is that I have hope that I would acquire this piece of land which I have partly paid for. This will enable me to put up my own homestead in the land hence I will no longer be homeless or worry of evacuation notice from the owner of the land when he needs to use the place.
Describe the moment when you received your money. How did you feel?
I received a message alert at around 5 Oclock in the morning . Only to find out its was a confirmatory message that my first transfer hand been sent . I immediately knelt down thanking God for the blessing he had sent me and also ask God for directions on my plans of acquiring a piece of land to be successful .
What did you spend your first transfer on?
I spent 55,000 KES of my first transfer to partly purchase a two acre of land worth 90,000 KES . I intend to pay the remaining amount with the second transfer to acquire full ownership . The land shall help me dearly in putting up my homestead .
 
Enrolled
access_time over 4 years ago
 
What does receiving this money mean to you?
The land that we are occupying right now was sold to cater for the school fees of my brothers in law and as a result, we are living here temporarily. Now receiving this transfer means that I will be able to purchase a piece of land somewhere else for my family to settle in.
What is the happiest part of your day?
My usual day entails waking up early in the morning and carrying out the normal household chores like preparing breakfast, cleaning utensils and collecting litter in the compound. Thereafter, I go to the farm and do some cultivation. I cultivate maize, kales and potatoes. In the evening I ensure I get some kales and potatoes from the farm for my family to take for supper. The time I enjoy most is in the evening when I am being surrounded and welcomed back home by my kids.
What is the biggest hardship you've faced in your life?
My parents in law are unemployed and as such, they have depended on selling land; piece by piece in order to school their children. As I speak now, the piece of land that we are occupying is already sold and I had to plead with the purchaser to give us a little time to find money to buy another piece of land in order to relocate. Continued pestering from the now land owner for us to move out of his land has brought lots of agony in my family. This for me is the biggest hardship I have ever experienced.