GDLive Newsfeed
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 > Mary's Profile
Mary's family
Mary
landscapeCountry:
kenya
workOccupation:
Small business
faceAge:
51
workCampaign
UBI
Upcoming Stage
Next Payment
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Follow to be updated on Mary's next check-in.
 
21st Payment
Transfer Amount
2280 KES ($22 USD)
access_time over 4 years ago
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Do you have any new or additional goals for your life for the next four months?
My new or additional goals for my life for the next four months starting a chicken business. I am planning to use the little profit I get from my business to build their house so that when I start buying the chicks I would have a place to put them. I thought of chicken rearing business because it does not require a lot of money to start. It also requires less supervision once you have bought their food and put at a strategic place you need not monitor them. I do sell small fish thus accessing chicken feeds is not a difficult task, also getting their market is easy because we have hotels along the beach they are in most need of them once you are ready to sell.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life in the last four months preceding the current transfer.
I used my transfer to build rental houses along Kosinde beach, this project my husband started it but due to financial constraints, it became to a standstill after his death. Therefore when I started receiving money from Give Directly I decided to pick it up. I want to thank Give Directly I am now a landlady, I get monthly income from those houses and this is the greatest difference in my daily life. I also do small fish business, thus I use the income from the rental houses to boost my business. I am staying a happy window because I can access the basic needs with a lot of ease.
How do you expect your life to change in the next six months?
I expect to have established my chicken business because the is the major goal I have. Having this project at hand will enable me to have an additional source of income. Therefore the money I would be getting from the business I have a plan of using part of it to renovate my house to look decent.
 
18th Payment
Transfer Amount
2280 KES ($22 USD)
access_time over 4 years ago
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How is your life currently different from how it was four months ago?
My life is different from how it would have been four months ago in that my harvest has increased. I used to have 3 sacks of maize since my soil fertility had been used up. I would try hard but that's the much I could get. When I started receiving these transfers, I have been using it to buy farm inputs such as fertilizer and hybrid seeds which I used on my farm. As a result, my harvest has increased from 3 to 7 sacks which is a big improvement in my life.
Do you have any new or additional goals for your life for the next four months?
My new goal in the next four months is to finish buying building materials such as nails and timber which I lack. I had decided to use part of my transfer to buying building materials so that I can finally have a new house which is better, safer and more comfortable to live in.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life in the last four months preceding the current transfer.
When my husband passed on last year, I knew I could not achieve our goal of building a new house. We had planned to build a new house because the one we had was old and could collapse anytime. I gave up on the goal of building a new house and decided to put up in the one I had because I did not have the resources to put up a new house. When GD came to my life, I revived the goal and started saving part of my transfers. Right now I have all the iron sheets needed to put up a new house. I am only looking forward to buying nails and timber which I will use in building a new house.
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 be having a new house and a cow. After finishing building a new house, I want to buy a cow as an investment for my family. I know when it reproduces I will have a herd which is a symbol of wealth in my life. I would want to coninue about improving my life.
 
16th Payment
Transfer Amount
2280 KES ($22 USD)
access_time almost 5 years ago
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How is your life currently different from how it was four months ago?
The other difference brought to my life with this money is that I have a rental house which is my another source of income. I know through this, I will not struggle to raise money to pay school fees for my grandchild who I have been taking of since the death of his parents. I know I will get money every month from the rental houses which will help me pay his school fees bit by bit. I would want him to have quality time to study in school as his parents would have done for him.
Do you have any new or additional goals for your life for the next four months?
The other new goal I have in the next four months is to start a poultry business. I would want to invest as much as I can so better my life and that of my grandchild. I would not want to struggle at an old age.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life in the last four months preceding the current transfer.
Before I started receiving these transfers, I do not have any stable source of income because I wholly depended on farming practices alone. I would have to sell part of my harvest to raise money to cater for my family needs. It was very difficult to make ends meet because the income was not much. With GD transfers, I started fishmongering business which has helped me a lot. This has been my source of income which has helped meet my family needs in time.
How do you expect your life to change in the next six months?
In the next six months, I would want to buy building materials such as iron sheets, timber, and nails which I will use in building shed for chicken. It is my determination to start a poultry business and I would want to get prepared well before buying the chicken.
 
12th Payment
Transfer Amount
2280 KES ($23 USD)
access_time 5 years ago
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How is your life currently different from how it was four months ago?
I have chicks that keep on laying eggs every other day, so what I do is that I sell the eggs to vendors and shopkeepers within the village and as a result I earn some cash out of the business. Recently I made a profit of close to ten thousands which I already used to secure a small portion of land where I intend to build the rental houses. The ten thousands shillings just acted as a deposit that allowed me to secure the land but the rest of the money i will be paying in small bits over a certain period of time
Do you have any new or additional goals for your life for the next four months?
My foreseeable future plan is to construct a new house that I will rent out to a tenant so that I can be able to get some rent at the end of every month. Building this house will make me economically stable and self-sustainable into the future so that I will not have to rely on the monthly transfers from GD, and in the event that we come to the end of the monthly transfers, i will still be able to get some income that will keep me going so that I will not have to rely on my children for financial help.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life in the last four months preceding the current transfer.
I have been using the money for over a period of close to one year now. In most cases I have been using the money to buy food for my family without so much struggles unlike how I used to strain so much in the past just to make ends meet and keep my family afloat.In addition to that, I also started a project of rearing chicken that have been multiplying overtime and today I can say that I am proud to own more than thirty chicks, a project that I could have never achieved had it not been for GD.
How do you expect your life to change in the next six months?
Like I have already mentioned before, I have a plan of constructing a new rental building next to the lake which I will rent out to a tenant and in return earn some income at the end of the month in the form of monthly rent. I am proud of owning such a project because I know that I will not have to live worrying about what will happen to me in the event that the monthly transfers are stopped by GD. Moreover, I want to live an independent life where I do not have to rely on my kids for financial assistance.
 
7th 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 currently different from the way it was four months ago in that I'm at peace and I do not have any worries because I can easily meet my needs. This has also improved my health.
Do you have any new or additional goals for your life for the next four months?
My spouse had started constructing rental shops for running a business, but he passed on before completing it, so in the next four months, I have a goal of completing constructing the house.
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 can easily meet my needs and afford daily meals without any struggle.
How do you expect your life to change in the next six months?
In the next four months, I expect to have completed constructing the rental shops and I expect to be earning some income form it.
 
Initial Payment
Transfer Amount
2280 KES ($23 USD)
access_time 6 years ago
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Do you have any new goals that you didn't have before receiving the transfer?
I have a new goal of reviving my fish business and expanding it more. It was a business I was doing before that collapsed due to the over reliance that we had on it.
How is your life different than it would have been if you never received the transfer?
My life is currently differently from how it would have been without the transfer in the sense that the living standard has greatly improved. The quantity of food that i could acquire has doubled.
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 the sense that I will be able to be self reliant. I will no longer depend on my spouse for the needs of the family.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life since you started receiving payments from GiveDirectly.
The biggest difference in my daily is that my life has been made so easy. I have been made able to acquire my basic needs with a lot of ease without running up and down seeking for help from the neighbors.
 
Enrolled
access_time 6 years ago
 
What is the biggest hardship you've faced in your life?
The biggest hardship I have faced is inability to raise college fees for my son.Seeing him just at home while his peers were in college stressed me up because I expected him to support me financially after his education.
What is the happiest part of your day?
The happiest part of my day is in the morning.I interact with people in the course of my fish business and I derieve happiness from that.This implies that I have to be happy as I set out to meet them.
What are you planning to spend your transfer on?
I plan to spend my transfer from GiveDirectly on improving my fish business.I intend to add more stock to tripple the current one of kshs 1000.This will generate more profit to cater for consumption related expenditure by my family.
What is the achievement you are proudest of?
The achievement am most proud of is the poultry keeping project that I run.I got the capital from a merry go round group of Nyi Bwaja and every morning when attending to the chicken,I feel so proud.