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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.
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Newsfeed > Irene's Profile
Irene's family
Irene
landscapeCountry:
kenya
workOccupation:
Subsistence farming
faceAge:
49
workCampaign
UBI
Upcoming Stage
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Follow to be updated on Irene's next check-in.
 
25th Payment
Transfer Amount
2280 KES ($22 USD)
access_time 4 years ago
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Do you have any new or additional goals for your life for the next four months?
My additional goal is to start building a new house. We are currently staying in one grass thatched house and we have the desire of owning an iron roofed house. It is for this reason that I joined a merry go round where I am eagerly waiting to have my contribution turn and be able to start building a new iron roofed house. This will not only give us an opportunity to live more comfortably as a family but also raise our self esteem.
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 can now conveniently meet the the cost of essential commodities that I found it difficult to meet before. With GiveDirectly transfers, I have been able to buy some of the essential commodities that I would not be able to buy before. Once I run out of cash, I can always take goods on credit from the local shops since I have what to expect to pay at the end of the month once I receive my transfer. I have also been able to improve my house a lot using this transfers.
How do you expect your life to change in the next six months?
In the next six months, I expect that I shall have completed the construction of my new house. We are currently assembling the necessary resources to do this and I am very optimistic that this shall be made possible within the next six months.
 
24th Payment
Transfer Amount
2280 KES ($23 USD)
access_time 4 years ago
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Do you have any new or additional goals for your life for the next four months?
My new additional goal for the next four months is to save some money in merry go round group to enable me to build a better and spacious house 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 in the last four months preceding the current transfer is that I have been able to buy farm inputs without any struggles like before. I have two children in college and my spouse pays for their school fees and during the planting seasons, it's so hard to get extra shillings to buy the farm inputs. When I started receiving the money from GiveDirectly I joined a village saving group that we started and this has been enabled me to support my spouse to pay part of the school fees and even buy farm inputs on time. We used to plant late and this was resulting in a poor harvest. Currently, we buy the inputs on time and this has resulted in pamper harvest and my family always has enough to eat throughout the season. I am so happy because we no longer go without food nor spent much on food like before.
How do you expect your life to change in the next six months?
I expect to have saved enough in the merry go round group that we have started in our village to enable me to fence my compound to look decent and also to buy some goats.
 
20th Payment
Transfer Amount
2280 KES ($22 USD)
access_time over 4 years ago
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Do you have any new or additional goals for your life for the next four months?
My additional goal for the next four months is to begin keeping poultry. Poultry is an easy project that can be managed with little resources. The main drive that makes me venture into this activity is that chicken lay eggs which will, in turn, be sold for money. Again, eggs are also food and can help improve my family’s health.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life in the last four months preceding the current transfer.
The biggest differences in my daily life for the past four months is that, I have been able to pay school fees for my children. Unlike before when they would be sent back to collect fees, which at that time, there was none, nowadays, they have been having ample time to study since I have been clearing the arrears on time. I am pretty sure that this education that they pursuing now would be a blessing to their lives in future and they will a live a brilliant life as well. I also note that the transfers have played an important role in my life by giving me ability to even plant crops. I bought seeds and fertilizer, tilled the land and the crops are currently doing fine. I am very optimistic that in the next few months, food shortage will not be experienced in my family.
How do you expect your life to change in the next six months?
Six months to come, I expect to be having my crops doing well. Now that I have the capacity to buy, and plant beans, this will be a great boost to the food supply in my family. This will eradicate food shortage and therefore is the joy that I really admire to have.
 
15th Payment
Transfer Amount
2280 KES ($22 USD)
access_time almost 5 years ago
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How is your life currently different from how it was four months ago?
In comparing my life now and in the past four months, there is really a very big difference. The toil and moil that I used to involve myself in to win our family a "daily bread" have drastically reduced. We stopped working much on the casual labor and concentrated in our farms where it has been productive in the past four months. We have improved our farm operation and we now have green maize which is doing well on our farm. With this, we are sure of a bumper harvest in the next few months.
Do you have any new or additional goals for your life for the next four months?
As much as the already started projects are still halfway, I still have an additional goal to construct a new kitchen. We have decided to join hands with my husband to ensure that we have a new, descend kitchen by December since the one we have been using is now old with leaking grass-thatched roof. Our urge to construct a new one is the fact that we have been having a lot of problems during rainy seasons since most parts of the roof have been leaking. Cooking was hard since the cooking area could be right below the leak making us keep shifting the fire-stones all over the kitchen.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life in the last four months preceding the current transfer.
Before receiving the transfers from GiveDirectly, the only livestock that we had in our household was a donkey. We have made many changes since then and the biggest difference which has stood in my daily life is the poultry farming unit I have established. I have managed to construct a good chicken coop and bought hens which I am now keeping. I have been fetching a lot of eggs daily which have eased the purchase of the household goods and even have facilitated the payment of school fees for my children. As a family, we hope to expand the project to accommodate more chickens which in turn will increase the egg production. We really thank GiveDirectly for all the support they have accorded us.
How do you expect your life to change in the next six months?
Since we started receiving the transfers, Our lives with the other members of the family have been changing to the better. We have made a lot of steps and differences are well depicted. At the moment we have future plans which we wish to implement and it will only be possible as far as we are still receiving money from GiveDirectly. Among the changes which we would wish to realize in the next few months is the improvement of our farming operations. We have a plan to plant vegetables so that we may carp the expenses we have been putting on the shopping for the same. Not only would they be meant for consumption but also we would be selling them to the local markets. Another great plan that we have is to renew our old kitchen. We would wish to see a descend kitchen comes December made of wooden walls and a metallic roof. We are sure to accomplish all these because we are still members of the merry-go-round group which we started and soon our turn will be coming.
 
12th Payment
Transfer Amount
2280 KES ($23 USD)
access_time 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 since I can now afford to buy basic needs for my family. We had always been forced to forgo our basic needs due to a lack of resource to support each necessity. Currently, my family is always happy since they always get enough food and have toiletries which they lacked before.
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 build a bigger house for my family. The house I am currently living in is small and cannot accommodate all family members comfortably. We always have to take outside some of our belongings at night in order to create space where my children will sleep in. This has always threatened the security of our belongings since they can be stolen at night.
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 no longer borrow things from my neighbors as I used before. I always depended on doing odd jobs like washing clothes for people and I would at times not get any work to do. These jobs always paid less and I could not buy all basic need for my children and I would at times borrow some things like vegetables and maize flour from my neighbors. This always led to my children being mocked by others that they were poor and their family only depended on other people. I am now glad because the aid I am receiving from GiveDirectly has transformed the lives of my family as we now have enough food and decent clothes.
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 buying building materials for my family. With this, I will have made a step ahead towards achieving my dream of building a bigger house for my family. This will be my happiness since I will always be knowing that very soon, all of my belongings will be secure after building a bigger house for my family.
 
8th 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 current life is different because I am so able to take care of my children needs. They wear nice clothes which boost their morale.
Do you have any new or additional goals for your life for the next four months?
In the next four months, I will build a poultry house. I will have received contributions from the merry go round group.
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 have bought school uniforms for my children. I am so happy to see see them in good clothes and that they even have shoes that I bought from th transfers.
How do you expect your life to change in the next six months?
My house will have enough furniture that I will buy frm the money I receive.I will have improved my home and will have increased my chicken brood.
 
Initial Payment
Transfer Amount
455 KES ($4 USD)
access_time 6 years ago
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Do you have any new goals that you didn't have before receiving the transfer?
I want to start rearing poultry by first building a poultry house and buying some few chicken. I also want to engage in serious vegetable planting that will help increase our household income.
How is your life different than it would have been if you never received the transfer?
My life is currently different from the way it used to be in that i am less anxious on where and how i will get my daily foodstuff and other materials. We are more happy as a family.
How do you expect your life to change in the next six months?
In the next six months, i wish to have improved my lifestyle and be living more comfortably than we are living now. I expect my children to be wearing better clothes and having a better diet plan.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life since you started receiving payments from GiveDirectly.
Nothing much has changed in my daily life since i received the transfer. I just feel very happy for the money that we received from Givedirectly.
 
Enrolled
access_time 6 years ago
 
What is the biggest hardship you've faced in your life?
The biggest hardship I have ever faced is three years ago when my tea plantation production were very low this is because it was destroyed by harsh weather conditions. since this was my source of income, my family at some point lacked basic needs such as food.
What is the happiest part of your day?
The happiest part of my day evening after having a successful day working in my tea farm. This is when I thank God for the day I have had.
What are you planning to spend your transfer on?
I am planning to spend the transfer on starting a poultry farming - I will use the first four months transfer to build a poultry house and the next eight months transfer to buy chicks and their feeds. I believe I will be done with this project in the first year of disbursement. I will spend the rest of the money to pay school fee for my children, one in secondary school and two in primary school.
What is the achievement you are proudest of?
The achievement I am proud of is being able to provide education for my children even though I struggled alot to pay the school fee since I only depend on subsistence farming as a source of income. So far, four of them are done with their college education and they have secured jobs. As a parent, feel that is the best thing you can offer to your children.