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?
Traveling to and from the dam in search of water has been tedious work to me. Making it much harder is the rugged terrain characterized by rocky and partly muddy routes during rainy seasons. Fetching water in our culture is an activity meant strictly for women and in their absence children would always take that role. I have been doing this since I was married and currently, I have made up my mind to change things around. Buying a large water tank is the first idea which I had in mind after receiving the first transfer only that it wasn't a priority. After completion of the house construction, I now have an additional goal to purchase a large water tank. This will act as a reservoir which will always be collecting rainwater from the rooves. an estimated cost at the moment is around 22000 KES which is really manageable as far as the merry-go-round we have been fully participating in is still running.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life in the last four months preceding the current transfer.
At the onset of transfers, plans were many and every member in our household had at least a wish. With my husband and I being the only recipients in the household, we had to lay down all the plans and as they say first things first, we opted to pick on the priorities. Improving food security through improved farming topped our priority list which was then followed by intensifying education of our children by ensuring that we pay school fees in time and encouraging them to work hard in school. All these went well and to date, we are still on; ensuring that the system is improving. Since then to date, plans have been up and running. In the last four months, we have been looking into the need for erecting a new house in our household. This wasn't because we never had a roof above our heads but we needed something new and big enough to accommodate all members of our household after a long time of living in old leaking-roofed structures over a long period of time. It started as a combined decision by first joining a merry-go-round where our turn to receive the contribution saw us stating the construction. We bought all the required materials with some ease, paid the labor which was working on the site and now we have a decent house at its finishing stages. This to our family is the biggest difference in the last four months since we are installing better furniture as we move in.
How do you expect your life to change in the next six months?
In the next six months, my expectation is to have bought and installed a large water tank in our household. Currently, we're in the last pits of our merry-go-round and within the next three months my husband will be receiving his turn and in that following month, I will be receiving too as the last person in the cycle. This money will then be accumulated and channeled directly towards the purchasing and the transportation of the tank to our home.
16th Payment
Transfer Amount
2280 KES ($22 USD)
access_time over 5 years ago
attach_money
How is your life currently different from how it was four months ago?
Currently, knowing that I will be receiving a regular transfer from Give directly, I got to accomplish my plans. Before I would plan but would miss to meet them due to uncertainties relating to farming which would result in poor harvest thus low return.
Do you have any new or additional goals for your life for the next four months?
After I am done with constructing the house, my next goal is to buy some sheep so that I can resell when my child will be joining the school in two years time.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life in the last four months preceding the current transfer.
Before Give Directly came to our village, we had started constructing a permanent house and we run short of cash to complete the house. This means we had to stop the project as we couldn't afford to continue with it since we had other responsibilities to prioritize on like paying school fees for our children. I am happy now that in the last four months we resumed the project and now we are almost approaching completing our new house. This was made possible with the transfers which we have been receiving from GiveDirectly. I can proudly say that this is a great difference that I have achieved in the recent past.
How do you expect your life to change in the next six months?
My eldest child is in class seven and will be joining a high school in two years from now. I need to invest part of these transfer so that I would be able to raise school fees. In the next six months, I would have bought the sheep. Sheep matures and reproduce within a very short time. I hope when my child will be joining the high school in two years time, I will have a good number which I would sell to enable me to pay school fees for my child.
12th Payment
Transfer Amount
2280 KES ($23 USD)
access_time over 5 years ago
attach_money
How is your life currently different from how it was four months ago?
My life is currently different that how it was four months ago because my house is now more decent. Previously my house was in bad condition, it had potholes everywhere. This was very embarrassing. Due to this, I used to shy off from inviting visitors to our home. Nowadays I am happy that anyone can visit me any time.
Do you have any new or additional goals for your life for the next four months?
I am planning to finish up with the renovation in the next four months. I want to expand the house by one room and also replace the wooden windows with steel ones. This will make my house to be more decent and secure.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life in the last four months preceding the current transfer.
The biggest difference in my daily life since I started receiving these transfers is that I was able to join a merry-go-round to save towards renovating my house. I bought building materials i.e. cement and I am half way doing the renovation. I have plastered the wall and the floor of my house that was initially dust and full of potholes. Previously, the dust that flew high when swept was exposing us to respiratory tracts infections. I was not able to do the renovation before since I am just a peasant farmer without a reliable source of income.
How do you expect your life to change in the next six months?
I expect my life to change to the better in the next six months in that I will have finished renovating my house. Having finished the renovation will allow me to concentrate on doing other things such putting more effort and time on my farm activities. I am also planning to buy a water tank for water harvesting and storing rain water.
6th Payment
Transfer Amount
2280 KES ($23 USD)
access_time over 6 years ago
attach_money
How is your life currently different from how it was four months ago?
I am very optimistic and focus about financial projects that will boost my family status since we were rated the most poor in the society.
Do you have any new or additional goals for your life for the next four months?
I am planning to construct my new house that has always been my dream to have another house for the comfort of my big family.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life in the last four months preceding the current transfer.
I am very happy because i had lost hope in life about any progress involving money in my family but now i am happy i can plan about the transfer and my family is so happy.
How do you expect your life to change in the next six months?
I have a plan of buying a big tank that will help me harvest water from my new house and this will make me very happy having such a dream life.
Initial Payment
Transfer Amount
455 KES ($4 USD)
access_time over 6 years ago
attach_money
Do you have any new goals that you didn't have before receiving the transfer?
Before receiving the transfers, I had not thought of expand my house since I had no extra income which could facilitate that. I now plan to build an extra room to reduce congestion in my current house. Also, I have plans to buy a water tank to enable me harvest water hence ease the hassle of looking for water far away from home
How is your life different than it would have been if you never received the transfer?
My life is currently different in that I am now optimistic with life as compared to having not received the transfers. Initially before the transfers, I had lost hope with life to an extent that I had even stopped working hard. Now i feel rally motivated
How do you expect your life to change in the next six months?
I expect my life to be better in the next six months since by that time I will have a big house enough to accommodate my entire family as well as I will have bought new decent clothes. This will be a great improvement in my life
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life since you started receiving payments from GiveDirectly.
The biggest difference in my daily life is that receiving these transfers has really reduced my stress of thinking of where to get money for my daily use. Now I am sure and confident that i will be having a monthly income.
Enrolled
access_time almost 7 years ago
What is the biggest hardship you've faced in your life?
The biggest hardship I have ever faced in my life is when I lost my daughter as she under went labour pain in the year 2013 month of October.
What is the happiest part of your day?
The happiest part of my day is in the afternoon when I am done with all my daily chores.
What are you planning to spend your transfer on?
I am planning to spend my transfer on buying a water storage tank and the remaining amount I will used to build a new house.
What is the achievement you are proudest of?
The achievement I am proundest of is merry-go-round group I joined in the year 1985 whereby I used the money given to me to build my first house.