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 Being a farmer, I always strive to improve and mechanized my farming. In the next four months, my new goal is to expand my tea farming by planting more seedling in the piece of land I recently bought. I prefer this since once the are mature I will have a regular income from to support my family.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life in the last four months preceding the current transfer.
I recently harvested better yields I had planted using GD transfer. It has been long since I had such a good harvest and we always had to spend much on food that I could produce. I had wished for long to do my farming on time and more effectively to realize better yield but scarce resources never gave me a chance before. I currently have enough food to take my family to the next harvesting season. I am glad that I won't spend much thus have more income to put in other income-generating goals.
How do you expect your life to change in the next six months?
I am hopeful that in the next six months, my life will be better. I expect to have planted the tea seedlings in my new piece of land. Though they will not be matured to earn me an income, they will always be my hope of a better future. With the current harvest I have, I will not be spending much on food like before thus will have saved some money to put in other goals and support my family.
20th Payment
Transfer Amount
2280 KES ($22 USD)
access_time 5 years ago
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Do you have any new or additional goals for your life for the next four months?
I had previously joined a merry go round with an aim to pool funds together with other villagers so that we can use it to improve our lives. I took a loan from our table banking scheme to buy a piece of land. I have been servicing this loan thus in the next four months I do not have a new goal but to continue serving it until I clear it.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life in the last four months preceding the current transfer.
I do farming to support my family. Even though I practice mixed farming, I prefer tea farming since it has a higher income in my area. I had a small piece of land that couldn't allow me to expand my tea farming. With my ambitious to expand this, I took a loan from a table banking we had started with other villagers to buy a piece of land. In the last four months, I have seen a great change in my life in that I have been servicing the loan with ease using my monthly transfer from GiveDirectly. I am hopeful that I will soon clear the loan thus gain full ownership of the land meaning I will be free to expand my farming on it. I have enjoyed the ease of collecting water using the donkey I recently bought. At first, It was quite engaging and tiring going for long-distance to collect water. I am happy this has hardship had been tremendously reduced by my donkey.
How do you expect your life to change in the next six months?
In the next six months, I expect to have cleared repaying a loan I took to buy a piece of land thus will be in full ownership of the piece of land. I believe this will relieve me of the monthly burden of serving it thus will have funds to invest in tea farming on my new piece of land. I expect to have bought a water tank in the coming six months to help me harvest clean rainwater for my household use.
16th 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 have been able to buy a two acreage plot with the saving from the local table banking group which we formed at the start of receiving our transfers. For a while now we have been sharing a small of land with my brothers after in inheriting from our parents. Therefore, I am certain of enough harvest from the next planting season which will last as the whole year for my family's consumption after planting a bigger parcel of land that I recently purchased.
Do you have any new or additional goals for your life for the next four months?
I do not have any additional goals for my life in the next four months at the moment since I tend to fully participate in our table banking group until the end of this phase. After that, I will resort to my long term goal of planting tea on my farm to make an extra income from the harvest by selling the mature leaves to the nearby factories.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life in the last four months preceding the current transfer.
I have built a new house for my family's comfort in terms of their habitation. Previously, my children used to be sleeping in our kitchen hence they had to wake up early so as to allow their mother to make breakfast. This really affected their time to rest hence they were not able to deliver during the day due to exhaustion that resulted from lack of adequate sleep. Therefore, having proactive children as a result of the new space they have acquired in our new house because they are sleeping without any distractions is the biggest difference in my daily life at the moment for last four months preceding the current transfers.
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 not be buying maize flour and milk on a daily basis anymore. This is because, for the first time, I was able to plant maize on the farm I recently purchased. I am hopeful with this promising rain and the resources I have put in it with that harvests will be enough to last us till the next harvest. All in all I am glad since I will be able to save the money I have been constantly buying maize flour with when I have exhausted my farm produce for other pressing needs in my household.
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?
My life is different now that I own a good house where I call home. Before I used to either avoid receiving visitors or when I do on the rare occasions, I was forced to request my neighbors to accommodate them because we did not have enough sleeping space. This has impacted negatively in our friendship with my neighbors since they thought I was burdening them with my issues. Nowadays I am peaceful as I no longer have worries of my house being blown away by wind or shyness of welcoming visitors.
Do you have any new or additional goals for your life for the next four months?
My husband and I have decided to save some cash every month so that in the next four months, we will have accumulated enough money to buy a piece of land because the one we have is very small that it can not allow us to farm.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life in the last four months preceding the current transfer.
The biggest difference is that I now own a permanent house. Previously, we used to live in a leaking and overcrowded grass thatched house. when I started receiving Givedirectly's money, I made sure that I saved the money each and every month with aim of building a semi- permanent house. I so happy about it as I can sleep comfortably during rainy season.
How do you expect your life to change in the next six months?
The next six months, I believe I will have bought the land. This will help me do extensive farming and get enough food that will last my family for long and also save the money I would have been using to buy the food to use it to provide the best education to my children in the future.
6th 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?
I am totally supported by the transfer hence i do not have stress unlike before.
Do you have any new or additional goals for your life for the next four months?
In the next four months i am planning to buy furniture for my new house.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life in the last four months preceding the current transfer.
I have a totally changed life since when i got the transfer,i have a new smart house for my family.
How do you expect your life to change in the next six months?
I am planning top lease a bigger land to practice serious farming to get enough food.
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?
I have goal of building a house for my children and buy them bedding's and clothes since the house they currently sleep in is in a bad condition. I am also planning to look for a farm to lease and plant maize so that I will not be buying maize throughout the year.
How is your life different than it would have been if you never received the transfer?
My life currently is different since if I had not received the transfers, I would not have bought iron sheets for building my children a house.
How do you expect your life to change in the next six months?
My life will have changed since I will have finished building a house for my children and transformed my house to a semi- permanent one.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life since you started receiving payments from GiveDirectly.
The biggest difference in my life is that my children have been able to eat and clothe well unlike before.
Enrolled
access_time almost 7 years ago
What is the biggest hardship you've faced in your life?
The biggest hardship I have faced is when the price of a kilo of unga had risen to kshs two hundred. It was challenging for me since I had no money to purchase food for my family.
What is the happiest part of your day?
At noon is my happiest part of the day. It gives me a break from my job and I can have time to relax.
What are you planning to spend your transfer on?
I am planning to spend my transfer on purchasing foodstuff and clothing my children.
What is the achievement you are proudest of?
The achievement am proudest of is managing to complete the construction of my two roomed mud-house. I would have wished for a permanent one but atleast I have managed this one and am proud of it.