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.
How do you expect your life to change in the next six months?
I expect my life to have changed in the next six months in that I will have started expanding my poultry project. Due to this, I will be using the income from this project to cater for our needs on time. Also, I believe that my children will be doing well in school since I will be paying their house rent on time. This will enable them to have peace of mind and concentrate on their studies.
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 pay house rent for my children in school consistently. Due to this, their various landlords have never kicked them out of their houses. This has been possible since I have been using my transfers to achieve this and also the income from my poultry project that I was able to start using the transfers.
Do you have any new or additional goals for your life for the next four months?
My additional goal in life is to expand my poultry keeping project. I am aiming at this so that I will be able to sustain my family even after GD will have completed its program in my village.
24th Payment
Transfer Amount
2280 KES ($23 USD)
access_time over 4 years ago
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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 for the better in that I shall have bought an additional dairy cow and hopefully start building a new and improved house for my family. We are currently staying in a small grass thatched house that is mud walled and we are looking forward to having an improved one soon. We also have plans of buying an additional dairy cow that will improve the living standards of my family in the long run. This, I am sure shall be done in the next six months if all goes well with our plans.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life in the last four months preceding the current transfer.
The biggest difference in my daily life over the last four months is the fact that I have been able to consistently pay school fees in time for my children. Before I started receiving these transfers, my children were often sent home for lack of school fees but with this money, I have been able to keep them in school all the time and given them ample time to concentrate on their studies. One of them is just about to clear his secondary education and I feel so much indebted to GiveDirectly for the support that they gave me and enabled me to give the best in terms of education for my children. I am certain that they will have a brighter future courtesy of this.
Do you have any new or additional goals for your life for the next four months?
My additional goals for the next four months is to be able to buy a dairy cow. I have one in my compound and I am just looking forward to having an additional one since they will be of great help in meeting any financial emergencies in the long run and make me be self reliant as well. I plan and purpose to accomplish this within the next four months.
19th Payment
Transfer Amount
2280 KES ($22 USD)
access_time 5 years ago
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How do you expect your life to change in the next six months?
In the next six months, I would like to have bought more chicken and constructed a perimeter fence around my poultry house. This will enable me to protect my chicken from predators. After adding more chicken I expect that the earnings would be much more and would start earning more. This will enable me to pay school fees for my children with less struggle.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life in the last four months preceding the current transfer.
The biggest difference in the last four months is that, I no longer go for casual jobs regularly. Initially, I would go for casual jobs throughout the week and always come in late in the day. I had no time to work on my own farm. Now I am happy that I have started faring which has enabled me to raise money which is much better than what I would earn from casual jobs. I thank Give Directly for the financial support they are giving me.
Do you have any new or additional goals for your life for the next four months?
My next goal purchase a chainlink and construct a perimeter fence around my poultry house. I would like to have a free-range poultry farming in the near future. It is easy to manage poultry farming and a great opportunity for me to add more chicken with the money which I would be receiving on a monthly basis.
How is your life currently different from how it was four months ago?
Now my life has really changed, I got some vegetables and maize on my farm which I could afford to plant with the money I received from GiveDirectly. Now, I do not strain much on a daily basis to meet my family basic needs as I got some chicken which when I collect eggs and sell it I earn money which is enough to cater to my daily household expenditure.
16th Payment
Transfer Amount
2280 KES ($23 USD)
access_time over 5 years ago
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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 saving some money to continue paying school fees for my children on time. This will make them have enough time to study as they will not be disturbed frequently by being sent back home due to lack of school fees.
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 devoted all my time on my farm. I do horticulture farming and every year my family have enough food through the season. Before I used to do casual jobs in the village and this was taking much of my time and I was not able to do my own work. The small amount of money I could get was not even enough to meet all my family household needs and also pay school fees for my children in school. My spouse could also struggle so much but he was earning a small income. I have also started poultry farming which is earning me daily income to meet additional household needs and my spouse has also saved some money and he has bought a motorcycle which he currently operates.
Do you have any new or additional goals for your life for the next four months?
My new goal for the next four money is to save some money to pay school fees for my sons who are joining college this year. It has always been my prayer to see my children become successful people in the future and this will be futile without education. I believe that my children will have a bright future since the knowledge and skills they will acquire while studying in college will be helpful to them in securing a job or in starting up a business.
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 no longer do casual jobs like I used to do before and I have devoted my time on my farm. This has ensured a continuous supply of food due to increased yields thus my family is happy. This has also enabled me to have enough time to bond with my children during evening hours since I am always at home and not too tired like I used to be before.
12th Payment
Transfer Amount
2280 KES ($23 USD)
access_time over 5 years ago
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How do you expect your life to change in the next six months?
I will be having a cow. I will buy one from saving part of the transfers. My family will enjoy getting milk like other families. It will reduce my expenditure for daily need since I will have stopped buying milk.
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 getting constant income from the chicken I bought. I buy some chicken with every transfer. I now have about 15 adult chicken that lay eggs, and in addition to this, many chicks. The size of my poultry keeping is growing and so does my income.
Do you have any new or additional goals for your life for the next four months?
I intend to a buy a wire mesh in order to fence the poultry house. This is in order to stop them from destroying crops especially the vegetable crops.
How is your life currently different from how it was four months ago?
Receiving transfer from GiveDirectly has changed my life. It has enabled me to pay my children's school fees. I also have money for their upkeep. I also buy foodstuffs for my family easily. I keep some money for emergencies too. This cash transfer program has really transformed my life.
5th Payment
Transfer Amount
2280 KES ($23 USD)
access_time 6 years ago
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How do you expect your life to change in the next six months?
I expect my life to change positively. I expect to have more poultry and a lot of eggs in the next six months. Sometimes I visualize a pickup track coming to pick eggs from my compound; that's how far I intend to grow the poultry work. It is also easier compared to digging farms.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life in the last four months preceding the current transfer.
I have peace of mind and rest. This is the biggest difference in my life. I used to worry about school fees a lot because I have 3 sons in secondary school and 2 in university. Another one is now waiting to join college. The funds really help me to lighten the fee burden.
Do you have any new or additional goals for your life for the next four months?
I would like to have livestock. I plan to do this by using the revenue from sale of eggs to buy goats then sell them when they reproduce and buy cattle. The cattle will then give us milk for sale and consumption.
How is your life currently different from how it was four months ago?
My life is currently different; I am optimistic with new plans and goals. Initially, I used to just work for food and school fees. I did not have future plans for economic development because there was little hope then. But now I have hope and new plans. The transfers have given me hope for a better future.
Initial Payment
Transfer Amount
2280 KES ($22 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?
The new plan which I have included in my list of plans is to improve the floor of my house . I would wish to introduce better floor since for long we have been living in a house with a dusty floor and now it would feel good making it better.
How is your life different than it would have been if you never received the transfer?
My life have become so good and in fact I have a plan to start saving in my Mshwari account so that in future I would use the savings to facilitate other projects.
How do you expect your life to change in the next six months?
I have great expectation in that since I am receiving this money monthly, my account by that six months would be much improved. Also with the poultry project I have started I trust that the project would have picked by the end of that six months to a level whereby i would be able to collect more than 15 eggs per day.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life since you started receiving payments from GiveDirectly.
I now have time to relax and the great pressure that I have been having reduced since i received this money. The hardest hustle I have been having have also reduced drastically and it is a great feeling that all plans a re going on well at the moment as planned.
Enrolled
access_time over 6 years ago
What is the biggest hardship you've faced in your life?
The biggest challenge now is paying school fees for my two children in secondary school and two others in university. My husband has health problems, he is both diabetic and has hypertension, which makes it hard him to support us.
What is the happiest part of your day?
My happiest part of the day is in the evening when i get to relax with my family.
What are you planning to spend your transfer on?
Am planning the first transfer to buy chicken for my poultry farming.
I'll save the transfer for two months to buy wire mesh for the poultry farm.
The future transfers I'll save up so that i can buy a plot and build rentals houses.
What is the achievement you are proudest of?
My greatest achievement is that i have been able to buy a dairy cow, i can now sell milk and earn income.