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 help my husband raise money to buy cows which he will use to pay my dowry. Since we got married three years, he has never paid my dowry and my parents have started asking about the same. I would not want it to get to a point where it is considered as debt.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life in the last four months preceding the current transfer.
At the time when I started receiving these transfers, my son and brother were out of school after finishing primary school because I was not able to raise the money to take them to secondary school. They both did their final examinations the previous year and they were going to stay home because I lacked ideas of how to get money to take them to school. With the transfers, I was able to save and borrow courageously, knowing I will always get money to pay back from GD, to pay for school requirements for the children. Right now they are all studying well in school because of the transfers.
How do you expect your life to change in the next six months?
In the next six months, I know I will have a very stable fish mongering business. This is a business I started with part of my transfers and it has been very helpful through the daily profits which is my income. I have been able to meet my family needs well and in time because of the business profits. I no longer have to borrow nor seek help like before the transfers. I want to focus my transfers in investing in the business by adding more capital and even finding a premise where my customers will be able to come daily. This will help improve profits and increase my revenue when I have many customers.
19th 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?
Currently, I can now take care of my household needs easily without taking loans. Before relying on causal jobs was very demanding and the wages were meager hence meeting all my family's needs with it was very difficult but this is a forgotten story once I boosted my business in the last four months with GiveDirectly's transfers. using my third transfers. I have been able to handle all my expenses with ease. Thanks to GiveDirectly for giving me the means to improve my living standards.
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 save and buy a dairy cow. Having livestock in our customary ideology is a source of wealth and at the same time, I will get milk from it which my family will consume.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life in the last four months preceding the current transfer.
Before, I would wonder whether I will be able to further my two siblings' education after my parents died since all their responsibility was left unto me. GiveDirectly's monthly transfers have been my motivator and now the biggest difference in my daily life is that they no longer have school fees balance hence they have ample time studying which makes me very happy. Thanks to GiveDirectly.
How do you expect your life to change in the next six months?
I expect in the next six months I would have saved half of the transfers from GiveDirectly and use the saving to expand the business which I started with GiveDirectly's support. I anticipate that I will be able to reach a number of clients within my area of residence. This will see my profits increase and enable me to save and even settle my primary needs comfortably without having to struggle.
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?
I have my own business that I majorly depend on which I started using the transfer. I do not depend so much on the first business where we were running with my husband. I settled on this because I felt it was right to mitigate the disagreements which I anticipated to crop up over finance in future between my spouse and I. Therefore, being able to be self-dependent and the financial freedom has given me the opportunity to think about doing other projects with the profits from my business which is the difference I have in my life currently that I can proudly mention.
Do you have any new or additional goals for your life for the next four months?
Currently, I am staying at my parent's- in -law's homestead where they are some rules put in place which I feel hinders me to develop finance such as staying late while attending to my business errands. This has at times brought disagreements with my in-laws. Therefore my new goal is to establish my homestead in order to gain my freedom.
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 managed to start a second business. This has been a relief. With the previous business, we were doing with my husband. I could feel uneasy when asking him for money and he says he doesn't have even in situations when I knew he had the money. This offended me so much but there was nothing I could do because I did not want any disagreements to arise between us around this issue. Having my own business with the freedom of using my money the way I want has brought a lot of joy in my heart. I will forever be grateful since I feel that I am the most empowered person. Therefore, I intend to mentor my peers in order to understand the benefits of having businesses as sources of income.
How do you expect your life to change in the next six months?
In the next six months, I expect my life to change in that, I will have established my own home with the upcoming transfers which I intend to use on purchasing building materials on a monthly basis. Currently, I stay in my in law's place but I feel that there is no freedom most especially to grow financial because of the restrictions that are in place like coming home late after work.
11th 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?
I majorly concentrated on farm work last planting season and through hard and Gods blessings I managed to get six sacks of maize and two bags of beans come harvesting time. I am now eating well. I sold part of my farm produce hence I used money to pay all the school fees arrears for my school going chilldren.
Do you have any new or additional goals for your life for the next four months?
I have no new goal because I have not achieved my previous goal of selling fish.I had it but it collapsed because my family depended on for survival.
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 investing my transfer in farming by buying fertilizer and hybrid seeds thus I have been getting bumper harvest compared to before when I used to farm without, I could harvest very little produce.
I am able to feed my family with a lot of ease hence my children are happy and have a positive attitude towards education. I am able to pay their fees on time from the sales of the surplus produce hence they are not frequently sent home unlike before.
How do you expect your life to change in the next six months?
I will have started a fish business increase in daily income to support me to meet other additional needs for my family.
8th Payment
Transfer Amount
2280 KES ($23 USD)
access_time 6 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 in that I have peace of mind since I easily take care of my needs like paying school fees for my children which was a burden before.
Do you have any new or additional goals for your life for the next four months?
My new goal is to start a business so as to get income.
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 is that I no longer quarrel with my husband over money because I get my month transfer that I use to take care of my needs.
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 a stable source of income from the business that I intend to start.
3rd 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?
My new goals are to pay school fees for my children and encourage my husband to go pay my dowry.
How is your life different than it would have been if you never received the transfer?
My farm is doing well and makes me happy and I was able to pay school fees in time.
How do you expect your life to change in the next six months?
I would want my husband to pay dowry, put up a home and pay school fees in time for all my children.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life since you started receiving payments from GiveDirectly.
I know I will have the best harvest because I was able to plant using hybrid seeds and fertilizer in time. I was also able to do top dressing in time all because of the money I received from Give directly. I have been planting with local seeds without fertilizers and my harvest has been poor.
Enrolled
access_time over 6 years ago
What is the biggest hardship you've faced in your life?
The biggest hardship in my life is lack of reliable source of income. This makes me unable to meet my family basic needs.
What is the happiest part of your day?
The happiest part of my day is in the evening when I am having dinner with my family, we recount how the day was and plan for the following day.
What are you planning to spend your transfer on?
I am planning to spend my transfer to start fish mongering business. This will be a better source of income to enable me provide for my family basic needs.
What is the achievement you are proudest of?
My proudest achievement is being able to take my children to school since it is the best investment I can do for them.