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.
Stages:
 
Enrollment
attach_money
 
Transfers
check
Completed
Newsfeed > Wilson's Profile
Wilson's family
Wilson
landscapeCountry:
kenya
workOccupation:
Raising livestock
faceAge:
47
workCampaign
Kenya Large Transfer
There will be no further updates from this completed recipient.
2nd Payment
Transfer Amount
55000 KES ($478 USD)
access_time 2 years ago
check
 
How is your life different than it would have been if you never received the transfer?
Our new goal is to renovate the sleeping house for my boys. It is mud-walled and we would like to change and construct permanent walls. This is because getting good mud for mudding the house has become quite a challenge since it is no longer easily available. We thus usually have to buy it. Mudding the walls and floor is also tedious and my wife is growing old. She is no longer able to do the hard work. We also have a plan to buy a goat so that we can have an alternative source of milk when the cow is dry. This way, we will no longer have to incur the costs of buying milk when the cow is dry.
In your opinion, what does GiveDirectly do well, and what does it not do well?
GiveDirectly staff taught us well in the meeting that they held with the community members. We got to understand more about the program and the people got good advice on how to spend their transfers. They were also not biased, they gave every household money as long as they are living in the village. I hence did not see anything wrong with how they conducted their work.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
We spent our entire recent transfer on renovating our kitchen house. It was made of mud on the walls and we decided to change it to be permanent. We bought sand, cement, and wire mesh. We also cemented the floor of the kitchen since it was also made of mud. We decided to do so because my wife is getting old and she is no longer able to do the tedious task of mudding the house. Getting good mud for mudding the house has also become a challenge. It is no longer easily available like before and we usually have to buy it. We had thought of doing this before but we didn't have the money. I have a small shop business and the money that I usually make from the it, most of it usually goes to the purchase of food and milk when the cow is dry. We are thus glad that we managed to complete the renovation work and the kitchen now looks good as new. This is all thanks to GiveDirectly for their big help.
 
Initial Payment
Transfer Amount
55000 KES ($484 USD)
access_time 2 years ago
attach_money
 
Describe the moment when you received your money. How did you feel?
lt was around four in the morning while still asleep when I heard an SMS notification on my phone. On checking, it was KES55000 from GiveDirectly and I was very happy and slept peacefully because I had already planned for it
Describe the biggest difference in your daily life since you started receiving payments from GiveDirectly.
The biggest difference in my daily life is availability of adequate water especially after the recent heavy rains because I now have a 5000 litres water tank which can store lots of water for a long time.I am grateful because I am now relieved of daily water transportation expenses because we no longer struggle to fetch water from afar.
What did you spend your most recent transfer(s) on?
I bought a 5000 litres water tank at KES32000 in order to ensure accessibility of water for livestock and domestic use. This is because our nearest water source is three kilometers away and everyday I used KES100 per day in water transport and this was quite expensive. I used the rest in upgrading my kitchen from mudwalled to a brickwalled house in order to relief my wife from heavy task of looking for smearing mud.
 
Enrolled
access_time over 2 years ago
 
What does receiving this money mean to you?
I have 12 children but they are all grown up and have left to start their own families. I currently live with my wife and my grandson who is in form 2. During the day my wife has to go fetch water at a distance of about 3km, her age can not allow her to make a lot of rounds and so sometimes we borrow our neighbours donkey to help her in fetching water. I plan on using KES 40,000 in purchasing a 30,000 litres water tank that will aid in solving the water problem. I will take advantage of the rain water and tap it to the tank, this way my wife will be able to relax and still have water at the comfort of our home.
What is the happiest part of your day?
In the last 6 months I've been able to reopen my business of a retail shop. During COVID 19 I had to foreclose my shop because there were no customers, people were afraid of going out to shop and they had lost their jobs. Most people would get goods on credit and that affected my business return. Right now I do not only focus on subsistence farming but I get an income of KES 7,000 from the shop in the 2 months I've reopened the shop.
What is the biggest hardship you've faced in your life?
The biggest challenge I'm facing is insufficient income for sustaining my family. I reopened a retail shop where I sell snacks and household goods such as a sugar. Most of my customers are school going children who buy snacks from my shop, but right now they are at home and I barely get customers. I would get a profit of KES 300 per day but now I make a profit of KES 100.