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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 > Chelangat's Profile
Chelangat's family
Chelangat
landscapeCountry:
kenya
workOccupation:
Tailoring
faceAge:
38
workCampaign
UBI
Upcoming Stage
Next Payment
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Follow to be updated on Chelangat's next check-in.
 
20th 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?
My life is currently different in that I am no longer worried when my children are going back to school during school opening days. When we started receiving these transfers, we were able to team up with some of my village mates and started a merry go round where we would save some part of our monthly transfers. The savings thereof help me with payment of my children's school fees. I used to really worry when schools open because most of the time, I had little or no money at all to pay their school fees. I am happy that the trend changed and I am less anxious about the whole thing.
Do you have any new or additional goals for your life for the next four months?
I used to run a tailoring business afew months but due to unavoidable reasons, I stopped. I am currently planning to start this business. This is particularly important now that the transfers would be coming to an end.
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 never lacked any basic items in my house. Before, it was sometime quite difficult to purchases some basic household needs because of lack of finances. I am grateful to GiveDirectly for empowering us with these transfers and I am glad that nowadays I rarely lack the essentials in my household.
How do you expect your life to change in the next six months?
My expectation in the near future is to have a successful business in the near future. This will help us as a family to have additional sources of income to help us meet all our needs and pay our children's school fees. We currently depend on my spouse for all these needs and sometimes it takes a toll on him. I want to be a position in a position to help whenever I can.
 
16th 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?
Life has really changed in the past four months; talk of my children who would miss school at least once or twice every week after being send to collect their tuition fees, the kerosene lamps which we were using as the main source of light every night and the insufficient food which could lead to malnutrition to my children. All these have really changed; we are now enjoying sufficient balanced diet, using clean light from the recently installed solar lighting system and my children are in school full time from Monday to Friday. What a great blessing to our family. We really thank God for what has happened in our family and presumably in other families who were struggling like ours in our village.
Do you have any new or additional goals for your life for the next four months?
Since I have overcome what I had always seen as a mountain, I have rejuvenated my energy and even planned more. As I mentioned earlier that I had other huge plans, I have not given up on them and one of my new goals is to purchase a piece of land using GiveDirectly transfers. I have a plan to obtain a loan from one of the credit facilities which will be enough to purchase a piece of land. I will be using other securities I have and as a backup plan, I will be having a repayment strategy which is non-other than GiveDirectly. The amount I will be receiving every month combined with my husband can do us an amazing project which we are soon making it work. We are only hoping that the promise that we were given by GiveDirectly that the transfer will be monthly for the period promised still holds.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life in the last four months preceding the current transfer.
When I was first told of the coming transfers, Ideas on how to spend started flowing in my mind. Some of the plans were so big and abstract that the monthly transfer I was to receive would not have accommodated. Even though I knew that they were too big, I never stopped putting them down with the hope that I will one day see them accomplished. Since the transfer came I have managed to pick on some while completing the ones which were simpler but there is this one project that has seen me look like any other well and able guys in the society. This has brought a very big difference in my daily life and even in the lives of my other family members - seeing my children school without being disturbed for not paying school fees. We agreed with my wife that before we spend the money on anything else, we ensure that we pay and clear all the school fees areas and that came to pass. It has been my greatest dream to see my children attend all the lessons in school, unlike the times when we could all stay at home, being tempted to drag them to work with us in the casual labor which I think it was against their rights to education but we had to. Thanks to GiveDirectly for elevating us and bringing us hope once more.
How do you expect your life to change in the next six months?
There are so many gaps yet to be filled to make us feel that we have achieved in life but first, we hope to complete all that we have started. The land which we are hoping to buy will soon come to pass in a month's time or two. We are planning to obtain the loan which we will be paying them direct to the seller of the land. Our children are also fast growing and it's been a wake-up call to us that we ought to start planning to construct a new house for them in the next six months. This will come once we have established a smooth payment of the plot of land which we are soon to buy. GiveDirectly had come to be an eye-opener not only to us but to the community at large. Everyone has plans and we all hope that this village will transform at the and develop to a great community by the time the transfers will be coming to an end.
 
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?
In the past four months, I had a lot of free time not because there wasn't any work to do but because I had no source of income to do a lot of things in our household. At the moment I am a busy person like any other member of the village. The money I have been receiving from GiveDirectly has been of great help in that I have put in to use in the farm. I have cultivated a wider part of my piece of land and at the end of the season,445+ I expect a great harvest compared to other past months.
Do you have any new or additional goals for your life for the next four months?
having seen a lot of improvement on my farm, I would wish to start my own business. I have great skills in tailoring which would help me a lot if I open a shop. Currently, I am trying to identify a good location where I can find a spacious shop where I will then install my sewing machine so that I can pick the business immediately.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life in the last four months preceding the current transfer.
Before we start receiving the transfers, our fields under cultivation were small since we had insufficient resources to use. We have now received the transfers and we are really working hard to see that we improve our farming which in turn will improve our food security. The biggest difference now in my daily life is improved farming activities in our household. I have put a large piece of land under cultivation; something which was not happening before. I have also improved the livestock farming and currently, I have around 15 chickens which I am rearing. soon I am thinking of purchasing a heifer and in future, I will not be buying milk again.
How do you expect your life to change in the next six months?
Due to many plans in our household currently, i have a lot of expectation and in the next six months I expect to have openeda tailoring shop and in operational. I already have a sewing machine which is in good form and the only capital I am looking for is for renting a shop space and also transportation fee to and from in the first few days.
 
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 since I am in a merry go round group.
Do you have any new or additional goals for your life for the next four months?
The only goal I now have is to start a shop.
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 since I now days have money to pay merry go round group.
How do you expect your life to change in the next six months?
I expect my life to change in that I will have opened a shop.
 
Initial Payment
Transfer Amount
2280 KES ($23 USD)
access_time almost 7 years ago
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Do you have any new goals that you didn't have before receiving the transfer?
Current I'm planning to borrow a loan from Equity bank to develop a plot I bought earlier and to use the money I'm receiving from Give directly to repay back this loan, I didn't have this idea before because it was not easy to get the money for repaying the loan on time.Thanks to Give directly for the great support.
How is your life different than it would have been if you never received the transfer?
My children could not net good back to carry their book to school, I also could not got this great Idea of planning on developing my plot.
How do you expect your life to change in the next six months?
In the next six month I will have bought the building materials and start the construction in my plot.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life since you started receiving payments from GiveDirectly.
My children now have good bags to carry their books to school, after the ban of the paper bag by the government, it was a challenge because my children could get bags to replace the paper bags they were having before on time but after getting the transfer I bought them bags and now they are so happy and feel motivated to work hard in school.
 
Enrolled
access_time almost 7 years ago
 
What is the biggest hardship you've faced in your life?
The biggest hardship that I am facing right now is lack of source of income. Having paid my children's fees, I do not have money to continue with my tailoring business. Its hard because I have not harvested maize and I buy maize every now and then.
What is the happiest part of your day?
The happiest part of my day is in the morning. This is when I wake up while still energetic enough to do my normal duties. I am happy because I can accomplish my set goals at that time.
What are you planning to spend your transfer on?
I am planning to spend my transfer to build a new house in another piece of land that I have. I also plan to start a new business as I run my ongoing tailoring business.
What is the achievement you are proudest of?
The achievement that I am very proud of is when I had a big harvest of beans from a farm that we had hired back in 2016.I was very happy because the money that I received after selling the beans enabled me to pay school fees for my Children, buy dairy cows and to improve my husband's drugstore.