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 new goal is to ensure that I keep paying the loan that I got from a financial institution without any default.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life in the last four months preceding the current transfer.
When GiveDirectly assured us that we would be receiving the monthly transfers, I took a loan from a financial institution to run some project. The biggest difference therefore in my daily life is the assurance and confidence I have that I would pay back the loan without a problem. I am also glad on top of paying back the loan, I am able to give a helping hand to my spouse with the household basic needs such as food.
How do you expect your life to change in the next six months?
My expectation in the near future is to have an additional dairy cow for rearing. I am a big lover of farming which includes rearing of animals, and apart from the love, the sale of milk produced by the cows helps us as a family meet our daily needs. In the near future,I want to be selling a good amount of milk from my farm.
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?
In the next few months, I expect that our cow will have calved. This will enable me to start selling milk. I am planning to take a loan and add to the little savings I will have made from the sale of milk and buy another cow. With two cows, I can easily service my loan which will give allow me to use the next transfers to start other income-generating activities.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life in the last four months preceding the current transfer.
We have been eating well for the last four months. We rarely miss a day as we used to when I didn't have a stable job. I was lucky to be among the beneficiaries of Give Directly which enabled me to buy food in bulk. I bought several bags of maize which was efficient compared to when I could have bought it in bits. We didn't have a good harvest last season because pests and disease destroyed our crops. This could have caused a great shortage of food were it not for Give Directly to come through.
How do you expect your life to change in the next six months?
Having more cows will guarantee us to buy a piece of land very soon. With the sale of milk and the young ones, we can easily raise enough money to buy a good size of land. We are currently living on an inherited piece of land. We haven't been able to do much development in this land due to constant conflict with in-laws. We are thinking of buying land in a place further from here where we can rarely cross paths with our in-laws
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 since my children are no longer being sent back home from school. This is because my husband pays their school fees every month as I cater for our basic needs.
Do you have any new or additional goals for your life for the next four months?
My goal for the next four months is to start poultry keeping project. I will use my next transfers to achieve this after topping up with the amount my husband has promised to give me. I settled on poultry project since it does not require constant attention and it is also manageable.
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 my family now feeds well. This has been possible since we used our transfers as a family on farming and due to this, I recently got enough harvests which will last us for some time.
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 started poultry keeping project. With this project running well, I will be able to use my transfers to invest in other income-generating activities as I use the income generated from the poultry project to cater for my family needs. Due to this, I will be able to diversify my sources of income.
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?
Before I would only depend on casual jobs which are seasonal but now am happy I got my own business which I run on a daily basis. I would hardly get time to interact with others as most times I would be in the field doing the manual jobs. Through the business which I run, I have gotten to interact with more people who are then bringing more business to my shop.
Do you have any new or additional goals for your life for the next four months?
My new goal is to buy a cow through the savings which I get from my business. I have only one cow and at the moment it's not lactating, so I have been spending a lot of money buying milk on a daily basis. I believe when I got two cows I will get to have milk all year round and the money which I would have to spend on buying milk I will spend on buying other family basic commodities.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life in the last four months preceding the current transfer.
Currently, I am so happy having started my own business. Before I would depend on casual jobs for a living and sometimes it was too hard to get enough money to buy food and pay my bills. I took a loan from a micro-finance bank and spend the money to start a business. Now I got good profit which I spend to buy food and save some amount for expanding the business.
How do you expect your life to change in the next six months?
In the next six months, I expect to expand the business so that I can cover a larger market and serve more clients. This will help me earn more profit. I also would expect to take my children to a very good school so that they can get a `quality education.
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 is different is different since I now have a thought of taking a loan so that I can use the money to buy myself a plot.
Do you have any new or additional goals for your life for the next four months?
The new goal I now have is to buy a cow so that I will not be buying milk anymore.
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 cow.
Initial Payment
Transfer Amount
2280 KES ($23 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?
Our new goal is to buy a dairy cow, this will be an an additional source of income and food for my family.
How is your life different than it would have been if you never received the transfer?
My mindset and confidence has greatly changed, right now i am thinking of getting a loan to purchase a cow. Previously i was too afraid to get alone because i din't have a regular source of income.
How do you expect your life to change in the next six months?
In the next near future, i expect to be owning a dairy cow that will provide us with an alternative source of income and also a source of food for us. We will be more comfortable and more happy than we are now.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life since you started receiving payments from GiveDirectly.
I am now an open minded person, i able to think of different ideas and ways of doing things unlike before when i used to have limited thoughts on ideas.
Enrolled
access_time almost 7 years ago
What is the biggest hardship you've faced in your life?
My biggest hardship is taking care of my first born son who is sick. Though he is in school, he is having a hard time since he is suffering from epilepsy. His medication and care has been so hard for me and the entire family.
What is the happiest part of your day?
My happiest part of my day is in the morning. It is my happiest moment since when I wake up in the morning I am fresh in body and mind and ready to pursue my daily chores.
What are you planning to spend your transfer on?
I will spend my first transfer on expanding poultry farming. I have few stock and I would like to buy more.
I will use the subsequent transfers to buy sheep and after accummulating enough cash I will buy a dairy cow.
What is the achievement you are proudest of?
My greatest achievement is success in farming. I have been able to increase my returns from dairy farming and crops farming.