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?
I do not have another goal at the moment apart from purchasing a tank and plastering the place where I will place the tank. These two are the prioritise which I got at the moment.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life in the last four months preceding the current transfer.
Now I am almost done saving for a water tank which is the greatest achievement so far. I am intending to spend my saving together with my next transfers to purchase a water tank. This would save me from a tedious process of fetching drinking water from a distant stream.
How do you expect your life to change in the next six months?
Previously, I managed to prepare a piece of land and plant some beans with the transfers which I received from Give Directly. I believe I would have harvested the beans and would have sold it and spend the money to buy a heifer. This would be an asset to me as the heifer appreciates with time and after some time it will reproduce and increase in number.
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 different from how it was in that we have been able to buy some fencing materials and fenced the farm. Before we fenced, we usually incur lots of losses when cows invade our farm destroying our crops. Having the fence has greatly reduced the risk of loss for our farm produces. We also have enough food for our family since we are assured of the monthly transfer. We budget well and buy enough food unlike before when we sometimes had to go borrowing from opur village mates.
Do you have any new or additional goals for your life for the next four months?
My additional plan is to buy a water tank for water storage. We have had a water problem for the longest time and the river where we usually fetch water for household use is quite a distance. We usually use so much energy and waste a good deal of time going to fetch the water. Having this tank means I won't need to worry anymore about going to the river. The time that would otherwise been used trekking to the river will be used to work on the farm, hence improved production.
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 that I am always happy because I finally achieved my dream. I now own a dairy cow which I know will change my life in different ways. It will grow and soon I will be milking it. It will be a source of food and income for our family. I will be able to sell the excess milk to the villagers and the nearest town. I am also planning to sell the calves when they mature. I will be selling the young ones in order to sort out my emergencies.
How do you expect your life to change in the next six months?
My expectation in the near future is to build a permanent house. Currently, both of our houses are mud-walled. Maintaining such a house is so straneous since it has to be smeared and maintained regularly. Considering there are other farm activities that need to be done, this usually takes a lot of unnecessary time that would otherwise be used in other activities. This will also mean an improvement in cleanliness since the mud floor and walls have a lot of dust.
12th Payment
Transfer Amount
2280 KES ($23 USD)
access_time almost 6 years ago
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How is your life currently different from how it was four months ago?
Currently, I am able to produce my own milk. Getting somebody to buy milk from for domestic use is a problem in our area. Most of the people here produce little milk only for domestic use. This has been really stressing for me because milk is a staple food in our area. Savings from the table banking has enabled me to purchase me a darry cow . Now, I am living a happy life because I can feed my family well.
Do you have any new or additional goals for your life for the next four months?
Our area is really affected by drought, getting clean water for drinking is a problem. In the next four months, I am planning to purchase a water tank. This will assist me to store water for future use.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life in the last four months preceding the current transfer.
The biggest difference in your daily life in the last four months preceding the current transfer is that now able to feed my family well. Before, I used to struggle to get some income from my tailoring job. This was not enough to cater enough food for my family. The transfer has enabled me to purchase a dairy cow. This cow has produce milk both for domestic use and the remaining is sold. The income has assisted me to buy food for my family everyday.
How do you expect your life to change in the next six months?
In the next six months, I am planning to build a modern house. We have been dreaming of building a semi-permanent house but due to lack of enough money, we have not managed. This will be possible because I will use my savings from the GIveDirectly transfers to build it.
8th Payment
Transfer Amount
2280 KES ($23 USD)
access_time 6 years ago
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How is your life currently different from how it was four months ago?
Currently we can do farming with less struggle as we have source of income from GD which help us to support our farming.
Do you have any new or additional goals for your life for the next four months?
My new goal is to buy a water tank so that we can get clean water.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life in the last four months preceding the current transfer.
The most outstanding thing in my life is that now we cannot miss a meal as we would skip a meal, now I cannot depend on my husband as part of the money which I get from GD, I do spend to buy food for my family.
How do you expect your life to change in the next six months?
In the next six months I would expect to have bought a water tank and won't be travelling far to fetch water for use.
Initial Payment
Transfer Amount
2280 KES ($23 USD)
access_time almost 7 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 stock my tailoring shop well so as to get more income from sewing clothes for people. I have good tailoring skills, all I needed is input to enable me to translate the skill to revenue and I believe that I will be able to do so with time.
How is your life different than it would have been if you never received the transfer?
My life is currently different because of the poultry that I bought, this being my first transfer. It is a source income that I did not have initially.
How do you expect your life to change in the next six months?
I expect my economic status to become better as months go by. I plan to use the funds to invest in livestock so as to diversify my sources of income and boost our status economically.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life since you started receiving payments from GiveDirectly.
The biggest difference in my life is that I now have a source of income from the poultry that I bought using the funds. I have eggs that I can sell everyday. It has given me a sense of independence because I don't have to ask my husband to give us money for every single thing that we need. This is beneficial to all of us as a family and I am happy about it.
Enrolled
access_time almost 7 years ago
What is the biggest hardship you've faced in your life?
The biggest hardship I am facing in my life is getting money to buy materials for my tailoring practice and also getting money to pay for my childrens school fees
What is the happiest part of your day?
The happiest part of my day is in the noon when my children have come back from school and am spending time with them
What are you planning to spend your transfer on?
Am planning to spend my transfers on increasing the number of my chicken, buy more materials for my work since am a tailor and also channel some of the money to buy pesticides to spray my tomatoes since I have already planted
What is the achievement you are proudest of?
The achievement which am proud of is my tailoring practice since at the end of the day I will be having money to buy food for my children