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.
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23rd Payment
Transfer Amount
2280 KES ($23 USD)
access_time almost 5 years ago
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The recipient was not asked any questions as part of this follow up.
20th Payment
Transfer Amount
2280 KES ($22 USD)
access_time 5 years ago
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Do you have any new or additional goals for your life for the next four months?
In the next four months, the new goal I have for my life is to expand my farming. I am planning to plant more tea bushes since tea farming does good in our area and it has a higher income as compared to other farming. I prefer this since in the near future I will have a reliable monthly income from which will help me meet other family needs ranging from my children's education among other needs.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life in the last four months preceding the current transfer.
In the last four months, I feel the biggest difference in my daily life is the empowerment that I receive from GiveDirectly. I am an unemployed mother with household responsibilities to take care of. Life had been challenging attending to each and every need with the limited resource in our family. Currently, I am glad that I have been able to provide for my family with ease. We are always assured of our daily expenditures since I have money from GiveDirectly to add to the little from my subsistence farming income. I have been able to buy a donkey that has greatly change my daily life. I no longer struggle to much-fetching water from the river like before when I could retire to be bed totally exhausted.
How do you expect your life to change in the next six months?
I believe I will have planted the tea leaves seedlings in the come six months. This will always be my future hope since it will be an assurance of security to lean on in the future. This being my main goal currently, completing it will mean that in the next six months I will divert my income to improve our living standard hence I expect easier access to basic needs like clothing and food among others in our family.
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?
Like any other mother in society, my happiness is to always see my family happy and meeting all the necessary daily needs. It had been hard for me providing for my family daily needs since I majorly depend on farming that takes a longer time to mature and with the challenges of land ownership, farming had not been reliable hence I became a seasonal grocery businesswoman and casual laborer to supplement. My life is currently different from how it was four months ago in that I am an empowered woman that can be relied on in our household daily needs and access to basic needs is easier than before now that we have better resources. I have actively do farming to help me in food production and sell the surplus in case of to meet other household needs. I am so proud that I currently own a piece of land that is rightfully mine hence I am free to practice any kind of farming unlike in the family land.
Do you have any new or additional goals for your life for the next four months?
I am lucky that I live in highlands that support tea farming a resource that I considered it to the best for me being unemployed. In the next four months, I have a new goal of starting tea farming in my new piece of land since now that I have full control over it. I am sure that once they mature I will be earning a monthly income from it to help me meet my household needs and other family financial needs arising moreso the children education.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life in the last four months preceding the current transfer.
I joined a table banking with other villagers receiving money from GiveDirectly after we started receiving. Before, it was hard for me joining such since saving plans since the little I could earn from farming was too little for me to for my daily household needs and other plans. The biggest difference in my life in the last four months preceding my current transfer is the piece of land that I bought after I received a lump sum amount from the merry-go-round group. It is my greatest achievement to invest my effort in such an asset that will allow me to freely do my own farming, unlike the current piece that is controlled by my father and will always add value and am sure that my children will one day inherit it.
How do you expect your life to change in the next six months?
Currently, I am doing better in farming and with the much, I have in my farm I expect a better life in the next six months since I will have harvested them hence will have more food for my family daily consumption. I expect to have started tea farming and I will have transplanted seedlings to my new piece of land hence will have built a reliable source of income in my future financial needs.
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?
Over the last four months, my life has changed for the better. I no longer do a lot of casual jobs that often left me tired and stressed up. After acquiring land, it has kept us busy all the days as we strive to make the best of it. It is a good feeling to see myself moving towards self employment and availing sufficient and quality food for my family. We also have a newly built house making the many days we faced in the leaking roof house to be just but memories. Cost of living has also reduced greatly now that we do farming on our new land.
Do you have any new or additional goals for your life for the next four months?
In the next four months, our plan is to acquire more plot of land for both establishment of a home and crop farming. We are as well taking advantage of the fact that right now most of our children have not yet joined high school and once they join, we will be limited in accomplishing most of our dreams. This land will greatly reduce the cost of living since it will produce majority of the foods we consume on a daily basis. Our long term plan is to later have tea plantation on this land. This will as well assist us a lot in paying school fees for our children who will have joined secondary school then
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life in the last four months preceding the current transfer.
Over the last four months, my spouse and I have been able to pool our resources together which has enabled us buy land. For a long time, we have desired to own land but our efforts have always been futile considering that we entirely depend on casual labour to meet most of the family's needs. We have been able to participate in monthly merry go rounds with the transfers where we have combined our efforts and finally acquired land. Going forward we will put the land into good use and move away from buying everything for the family. We have already started planting some short term horticultural crops and this has seen us reduce the family's expenditure by a great extent.
How do you expect your life to change in the next six months?
In the next six months, I expect that the cost of living for all my family shall have greatly reduced. It is at this time that I expect to be fully self employed and engaging in no form of casual labour to put food on the table for the family. By this time, I also expect to have started buying tea seedlings for planting in our farm.
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?
The life currently is different since I now live in an iron sheet roofed house and my children are now dressing well.
Do you have any new or additional goals for your life for the next four months?
The new goal I now have is to buy a water tank.
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 live in a house which does not rain inside.
How do you expect your life to change in the next six months?
I expect my life to change in that I will have bought a water tank and my children will also be eating well.
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?
I plan to build a house. This is my new goal. Our kitchen is in bad shape. It has a thatched roof that leaks. My children sleep in the kitchen and it is so inconvenient during rainy seasons. I plan to build a better house so that my children will not continue to suffer. They will be comfortable whether it is raining or not.
How is your life different than it would have been if you never received the transfer?
My life is currently different. I have hope and optimism. We eat well as a family. We can afford a balanced diet. We have also planted our crops which will be a supply for food for us; this will be a constant supply. We can then use our future transfers for other income generating activities or for other things that we will deem fit.
How do you expect your life to change in the next six months?
I expect my life to be better than I have now. In six months, we will be having food from our farm, so lack of food will be minimal. I also expect my children to continue learning without the interruptions of being sent home for lack of fee. If they get a good education they will have a brighter future. That will be my happiness as a parent.
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life since you started receiving payments from GiveDirectly.
The biggest difference in my life is that there is sufficient food for my family. Earlier we would really struggle to feed our family but now we have enough food. We used to work so hard without being sure that we would have enough for meals. Now we have enough and we do not do too much unnecessary work that pays so little.
Enrolled
access_time almost 7 years ago
What is the biggest hardship you've faced in your life?
The biggest hardship I have faced is about two years ago when the drought was prolonged and getting water was the biggest challenge. I had to walk longer distance to get water for domestic use.
What is the happiest part of your day?
The happiest part of the day is at night when I am going to sleep after a tiresome day. This gives me peace to reflect on how the day was.
What are you planning to spend your transfer on?
I am planning to spend my transfer on purchasing foodstuff. For me I always purchase food to feed my family.
What is the achievement you are proudest of?
Building my two roomed mud- house is the achievement am proudest of. Raising money for me has been a problem so I am proud that the house was completed and I live in it peacefully.