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 plan to build a house for my family to live in. I have two small huts, made of mud walls and grass thatching. I will build a timber walled one and roof it with iron sheets to make it look better and to last longer than the old huts that I have.
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 the stability and peace that come to my family. Since receiving the money, I am able to meet my family needs without quarreling with my wife. Previously she used to get angry with me and this trained my relationship. I am happier in my relationship here at home because I have money to spend on our needs.
How do you expect your life to change in the next six months?
In the next six months, I am expecting to live a better life. I expect to have completed home improvement by putting up a bigger house. This will top up to the peace that I am currently enjoying with my wife. I am to mend my relationship that was brought about by my inability to provide by proper utilizing the money I get from GiveDirectly to do more. I am certain that this is the only way of can make up for my family.
16th Payment
Transfer Amount
2280 KES ($22 USD)
access_time 5 years ago
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How is your life currently different from how it was four months ago?
Comparing my life currently with the last four months, there has been a lot of notable differences. My children are currently dressing well, feeding well and attending their classes regularly since we have managed to clear the payment of their school fees.
Do you have any new or additional goals for your life for the next four months?
With all the projects I started in the last four months, I currently have an additional goal to construct a new house. We had been living in a small house which could not comfortably accommodate all members of my household. I have already sourced woods and currently in a process of buying iron sheets in bits every month courtesy of GiveDirectly transfers.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life in the last four months preceding the current transfer.
Receiving transfers from GiveDirectly has really brought a lot of difference in my daily life. The mood in our household really changed, difference from the frequent fights and quarrels which we used to have with my wife. We came to realize that it was a lot of deficiencies which we could not afford that was making us fight. Currently we have everything in place which has brought back the initial joy we had during our early marriage days. To me, this is the biggest difference in my daily life in the last four months.
How do you expect your life to change in the next six months?
In the next six months, I expect to have completed the construction of my new house. Our current status of the material collection is at its final stages and soon we'll start the construction process. We are really grateful to GiveDIrectly for the great support they have accorded us to a point whereby we can plan and deliver on any project within our means.
12th 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 life is different in that I am generally a happy man than I was four months a go. There is a lot of peace in the family due to the availability of cash that is used for various needs. I feel so proud as a father having been able to meet most of my family's needs unlike before when it was difficult to make ends meet.
Do you have any new or additional goals for your life for the next four months?
In the next four months we plan to save up enough money to be able to build a new house for the family. We are currently staying in one house with all the family which is becoming too uncomfortable especially with the growing children who need privacy of their own. The new house will as well enable my school going children to have their own private time for studies without interference and definitely they will post better results.
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 been able to meet most of my family's basic needs with very little difficulty unlike before. This has given me peace of mind in the family as I do not have to ponder on where to get money for various uses. This has also consequently reduced the quarrels that we often had with my wife. I just realized that it was as a result of too much expectations from my family with very little income from both of us.
How do you expect your life to change in the next six months?
In the next six months I expect that my life shall have changed in that we shall have fully completed our new house. The completion of the new house shall give more space for my now big family and make us more comfortable. It shall also allow us as a family to think of other profitable investments that shall make us self reliant in the days to come.
8th 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?
Looking back to the past months before receiving the transfers, it was really hard. I would work extra hours in other people's farm in order to get more proceeds from the casual labor I was doing. At the moment our standard of living has really improved and far much different from the last four months. My children who were wearing old and torn clothes are now wearing clean and preserved clothing. Our livestock is also healthy since it is getting all the required minerals and feeds. All I can say is that our household has regained the long-lost respect in the village and the peace of mind which we have always run after.
Do you have any new or additional goals for your life for the next four months?
Currently, we are doing great farming and God's willing we would start constructing a new house in our family. We are planning to construct a new house with around 30 iron sheets now that the one we are currently living in is getting old and leaking on the roof. we have been saving part of the transfers so that we can start buying materials. We have already bought sixteen iron sheets and every month we expect to be adding some before we start the construction.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life in the last four months preceding the current transfer.
before receiving the transfers there had been wrangles and conflict between my wife and I in our household. I never knew the real cause until we received the transfers. I would come home after my daily chores and could not want to be ask anything since i had no money. Any attempt by my wife to ask me anything which requires money would bring conflict but I thank god we are now beyond that era. Happiness is all over our household nowadays, we are eating on a common table with my kids, laughing and all making fun as we go to sleep. All this peace of mind is because of the sufficiency in terms of money which has come to our family.I thank GiveDirectly for making thins changed and bringing this biggest difference in our household. I remember the days when we would stsrt a great fight before our children which would cause them to cry all noght both bbecause of hunger and the beast-looking father in the family.
the biggest difference in our daily life is the extreme happiness within our family, we used to quarrel over the insufficiency of resources a which would even extend to a fight, we are now able to seat and plan everything we are doing
How do you expect your life to change in the next six months?
In the next six months, I expect to have completed the construction of our new house. This would at least improve my happiness since we would be having a clean home with more space in the house for my children to read and sleep. We are praying to God that all our plans to establish that new house will go through.
Initial Payment
Transfer Amount
4560 KES ($45 USD)
access_time over 6 years ago
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Describe the biggest difference in your daily life since you started receiving payments from GiveDirectly.
The biggest difference in my life is that I now have peace and I am happier than before. Lack has a way of robing people of peace of mind and one lacks happiness if they are in need. I now have some funds for meeting our needs and I am peaceful and happy about it.
How do you expect your life to change in the next six months?
I expect to have a better life economically. I intend to do less casual work and have more revenue from sale of farm produce such as onions and potatoes. There will be no more shortage in food supply in my household too. We will be well fed.
How is your life different than it would have been if you never received the transfer?
My life is currently different because I am optimistic. I believe that that there are better days ahead and our economic level will improve. We are assured of consistent meals and we are currently well fed unlike before because we were struggling.
I also do minimal casual labor compared to earlier when I had been overworking to be able to buy the basic things that Give Directly transfers enable us to buy at the moment.
Do you have any new goals that you didn't have before receiving the transfer?
My new goal is to build a house since we have a thatched one and we feel we need a better one. We will hopefully combine our transfers as a household so as to be able to buy the building materials that we will need and build it.
Enrolled
access_time almost 7 years ago
What is the biggest hardship you've faced in your life?
The biggest hardship I have faced in my life is difficulty in feeding my family and even educating my children.This is due to lack of enough money from my little farm work.
What is the happiest part of your day?
The happiest part of my day is during the evening.This because I am always happy that the day is ending well after the day's work and it is usually a time to relax.
What are you planning to spend your transfer on?
I am planning to spend my transfer on building a new house which is bigger than the current one.
What is the achievement you are proudest of?
The achievement I am proudest of in my life is buying a piece of land where my family is now settled.We used to live in a small piece of land which was a family land and was not enough for my farming activities.