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.
Do you have any new or additional goals for your life for the next four months?
My plan in the next four months is to lease a piece of land within my village and grow some crops. Where we currently live is quite small and does not allow us to do some of these activities.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life in the last four months preceding the current transfer.
Both my spouse and I are beneficiaries of this project. Whenever we receive the monthly transfers, we lump them up and pay our children's school fees. We have two children in secondary school and others in college and its quite a fete paying all their fees. I am glad that GiveDirectly came through with this aid. Before we solely depended on what we get from casual jobs which were barely enough for all these needs and it would often lead to my children being sent home for school fees. This is the biggest difference in my daily life!
How do you expect your life to change in the next six months?
We were recently evacuated from where we had bought a piece of land by the government terming it as the forest land. We are currently not settled yet as most of our items were left behind and others destroyed. My expectation in the near future is to have settled well and live a comfortable life. I also want to ensure that my children continue with their education uninterrupted despite all these challenges. I want to work hard by doing a bit of farming to improve our living state.
15th Payment
Transfer Amount
2280 KES ($22 USD)
access_time over 5 years ago
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How is your life currently different from how it was four months ago?
My life is currently different from how it was four months ago in that I no longer do much the casual jobs in the village. I have devoted all my time on my farm. I do get a good harvest and I am able to sell the surplus at the market to pay school fees for my children. They are no longer sent home and their performance in school has improved greatly.
Do you have any new or additional goals for your life for the next four months?
My new goal for the next four months is to save the money I get from the sales of my farm produce to pay school fees for my son who will be joining the university.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life in the last four months preceding the current transfer.
The biggest difference in my daily life in the last four months preceding the current transfer is that I have ventured into horticulture farming which gives me some income after every three months. Before I used to do casual jobs in the village and the money I could get was not enough to meet all my household needs and farm inputs. My family could not get enough food because I could only farm on a small piece of land. Currently, because I get the money from GiveDirectly I am able to cultivate my farm at the right time and buy the seeds on time. I have enough food for the family and I sell the supply at the market to meet other household needs and also to pay school fees for my children in secondary school. They are no longer sent home to collect school fees because I pay on time. I am so happy for the support it has boosted me in my farming activities and I no longer do much of the casual job but rather devote all my time on my farm.
How do you expect your life to change in the next six months?
I expect my life to change in the next six months in that I will have expanded the number of acres for farming. I will be also in a position to have all the farm inputs on my store to ease my work on the farm. This will make my work efficient and timely.
12th Payment
Transfer Amount
2280 KES ($23 USD)
access_time over 5 years ago
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How is your life currently different from how it was four months ago?
My life has changed tremendously in the positive direction over the last four months. In the past we could sometimes go without food for longer days and even nights. This has been a thing of the past as we are now moving towards being completely self reliant in terms of food. I am proud that I can be certain of having food on the table for the family even for a longer period of time unlike before when we used to live from hand to mouth. This has made my family happier than it used to be before.
Do you have any new or additional goals for your life for the next four months?
My minds are fixed towards actualizing my plans of planting in time. It has been a long dry season and the planting season has greatly been affected. Right now, we are preparing land for planting as we eagerly wait for the rains to fall. Once the rains fall, we shall embark on planting which we are optimistic will happen in the next few days
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life in the last four months preceding the current transfer.
The biggest difference in my daily life over the last four months is that I have been able to pool resources together with my husband and pay school fees in time. The habit of having our children away from school has been a thing of the past. This is a great step towards giving our children quality education. Nothing makes me happier as a parent than the realization that I can finally offer my children the best that I promised them and the best that I can. The transfers has equally enabled us improve our farming practices by being able to plant in time and planting the right hybrid seeds. We are looking forward to a huge harvest in the coming days.
How do you expect your life to change in the next six months?
My life shall change for the better in the next six moths. We are planning to move away from long term crops like maize and to the short term horticultural crops like cabbages and beans that will give us income faster and enable us have more money at our disposal and raise our families well.
7th Payment
Transfer Amount
2280 KES ($23 USD)
access_time over 6 years ago
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How is your life currently different from how it was four months ago?
My life currently different since I now days engage myself in some farming practices which I was not doing before.
Do you have any new or additional goals for your life for the next four months?
The only goal I now have is to buy a plot for my family.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life in the last four months preceding the current transfer.
The biggest difference in my daily life is happiness.
How do you expect your life to change in the next six months?
I expect my life to change in that I will have bought a plot for my family.
Initial Payment
Transfer Amount
455 KES ($4 USD)
access_time over 6 years ago
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Do you have any new goals that you didn't have before receiving the transfer?
My new goal is to start a new business of dealing in potatoes.This will allow me to make profit with the money i receive from GiveDirectly.
How is your life different than it would have been if you never received the transfer?
My life is currently different in that i am able to eat properly and have money to send to my son in the university.
How do you expect your life to change in the next six months?
In the next six months i will have received money from my group group that we pool resources and bought a piece of land.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life since you started receiving payments from GiveDirectly.
The biggest difference is that i now have land to till.we leased land so at list i also have food from the farm like my neighbors. I was evicted from where i lived near the Mau forest .i am therefore a squota here in a relatives land. Having land till is a blessing.Thank you GiveDirectly.
Enrolled
access_time almost 7 years ago
What is the biggest hardship you've faced in your life?
The biggest hardship I've faced in my life is when we lost our land in mau.
What is the happiest part of your day?
The happiest part of my day is when I get casual labor. In that way I'm sure to get food for that day
What are you planning to spend your transfer on?
I'm planning to spend my transfer on buying a small piece of land.
What is the achievement you are proudest of?
The greatest achievement I'm proud of in my life is the fact that we have educated our son up-to university level.