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?
In the next four months, I intend to put up a shop at our shopping center to help generate household revenue. This will support the other sources of revenue generation which will help in meeting household expenditure and other expenses incurred by members of my household.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life in the last four months preceding the current transfer.
In the past four months, my life has been great as compared to how it was before the transfers. I have been saving my transfers towards a major project that is my house construction. So far I have made progress and I am almost through with the project. I spent the recent transfers to facilitate the plastering of the flour of the house. This will make it look beautiful and comfortable as compared to un plastered flour.
How do you expect your life to change in the next six months?
I expect my life to change this is because, in the next six months, I hope the shop business will be up and running. This will help meet the household expenditure and other needs like school. With the money earned from the taxi business, I can increase my savings and even invest more in other ventures to help expand our revenue base as a family.
21st 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?
My new or additional goal for my life for the next four months is to start a small shop business. Having an additional source of income will relieve me of a lot of financial crisis. I have a lot of hope that having an additional income will enable me uplift my living standard by proving for my family. I have school-going children, though they are not in a better school as I would wish, once my business will pick up I have plans to take them to a better school since education is the key to success
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life in the last four months preceding the current transfer.
The greatest difference in my daily life is that already am almost finishing buying building materials. I really thank Give Directly for having enabled me to buy what I bought i.e iron sheets and building nails. I have been longing to have my own hoise but due to lack of capital, I could not manage to buy the building materials. I hire a motorbike for the taxi business, it is very hectic because I have to pay the owner of the motorbike a certain amount of money daily, the little I remain with I use to buy food for my family members. Due to the little income, I get from my job, paying rent every month is not easy because at times the financial burden at ti overwhelms me.
I now have hope of owning a house because of the financial support from Give Directly now that I have an additional income.
How do you expect your life to change in the next six months?
I expect to expand my business in the next six months . Having the business is an assurance of additional income. I expect to take my children to a good school where they can get best education, this. is my major priority. I also expect that my wife will now have employment, currently, she does not have one but mainly does house chores.
When both of us have something to bring on the table daily it creates a good environment for discussion and also it capacity to build an individual economically, and this is the kind of life I am striving to have in the near future.
19th 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 would have been four months ago in that I have my own cows. After building a house, I used my transfers to better my life by buying two cows. I have always wanted to have my own since it is a sign of wealth in my area. I could not have my own income because of many family demands and with very little income. Right now, I feel rich because of the cows I bought with my transfers.
Do you have any new or additional goals for your life for the next four months?
My new goal in the four months is to plaster my house. I have come from far and I would want to handle the issue of the house once and for all. I would not want to keep smearing like my neighbors. I would want to make it semi-permanent so that I focus income on bettering the life of my family.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life in the last four months preceding the current transfer.
Before the transfers, I used to live in a rental house. I did not have my own house and due to low income from the motorcycle business, I could not build my own. The motorcycle was also not mine and we had to share the daily income with the owner. The remaining amount of income, I had to use in catering for family needs. I was not able to save my income to buy building materials for building a new house. I had to struggle in a rental house because that's where I could afford. Since I started receiving these transfers, I used part of it to buy building materials such as iron sheets, timber, and nails which I used in building my own house. I feel relieved because I channel the money I used on rent to better my family life.
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 be having a retail shop business. I would want to have a stable source of income. I would not want to struggle as I used before the transfers. I have decided to invest in a business so that I can have the constant income to make my life better.
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?
Four months ago, I had no decent chairs in my house as I had only 3 plastic chairs. Over the last four months, after constructing my new house, we have managed to save our transfers as a family and bought a set of sofas which we are really proud to own and very grateful to GD for enabling us to buy.
Do you have any new or additional goals for your life for the next four months?
Life has really become very tough these days with the increase in the prices of basic commodities and foodstuff. This has made it very difficult to take care of family needs with the little money that I make from my motorcycle taxi business. To make things easier, my wife and I have agreed to combine our transfers for the next few months so that we can set up a grocery shop as a backup source of income.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life in the last four months preceding the current transfer.
I am a motorcycle taxi operator which is my main source of income. Lately, many youths without formal employment have joined the sector to earn a living making the business quite profitless. This had greatly affected my daily income and my ability to properly provide for my family. Over the last four months, I have been able to comfortably take care of my family's needs with a lot of ease, all thanks to GD tranfers.
How do you expect your life to change in the next six months?
With the new grocery business that we are planning to set up in the next few months, I expect to be more financially stable in the next six months. The business will be an extra source of income for my family even when my motorcycle taxi business doesn't provide enough for the day.
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 currently different from how it was four months ago because l am now staying in my own home l no longer pay rent.
Do you have any new or additional goals for your life for the next four months?
My new goal in the next four months is to buy furniture.
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 l am now staying in my own home, since l spent the transfer plus other savings to build my home. Pay rent was very expensive and yet l did not have a stable job.
How do you expect your life to change in the next six months?
In the next six months l expect to have started business of selling domestic goods.
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?
Right now my life is different because I do not have to stay in a dark room every night like I used to do before. I also have a house of my own as opposed to living in a rental house.
Do you have any new or additional goals for your life for the next four months?
I have a dream of starting a small scale business for my wife, and God willing if the business picks up then we should be able to live a much more comfortable life based on the profits that the business will be generating.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life in the last four months preceding the current transfer.
The biggest for me right now is that I now have a solar powered system in addition to buying new iron sheets that I have already used to construct a new house.
How do you expect your life to change in the next six months?
I will have opened a small scale business for my wife which will be generating some income for the family. I believe I will have also saved some cash by then that will enable me to join an institution of higher learning to advance my skills in electrification.
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 good business for my wife to get more income since currently she sells vegetables in an open area which is uncomfortable whenever it rains.
How is your life different than it would have been if you never received the transfer?
My life is currently different from how it would have been if I never had received the transfer in that, I would have not managed to purchase the amount of iron sheets that I wanted. I am glad that I am a step a way to own my house.
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 to started a business for my wife hence with the income we will manage to take care of the household needs easily.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life since you started receiving payments from GiveDirectly.
The biggest difference in my daily life since I started receiving payments is that, I managed to add some amount and purchase iron sheets hence I have moved a step a head towards owning my house.
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 discontinuation of my education after the death of my parents, that interfered with my education dream. "
What is the happiest part of your day?
"The happiest part of my day is night, because it's is the time I am back at home, after long day's work. "
What are you planning to spend your transfer on?
"I am planning to use this money to build my own house, since i have a family and still live at the rental house within the village. "
What is the achievement you are proudest of?
"Initially, I was riding somebody's motorcycle since i am taxi rider, but i struggled through my little savings to buy my own motorcycle which i have now. "