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Siddiqee Shrestha

Work

Seed for Deed

An initiative that rewards positive action with something that outlives it.
Role
Founder
Dates
2024 - present
Status
Live

The problem

Kindness in a community is constant and invisible. It leaves nothing behind, so nobody sees how much of it there is, and the people doing it get no signal that it counted.

How it works

Someone shares a good deed they have done. A tree is planted for it. The deed is the unit of account, not a donation - you cannot buy trees into the ledger, you can only do something and say so.

Over 50 good deeds came in during the first week of launch, within one small community. Corporate sponsorship now funds the first 10,000 trees, and the initiative has had national media attention.

The decision

The part worth reading about.

The reward is deliberately not money

Paying people for good deeds converts them into transactions and destroys the thing being rewarded. A tree does the opposite: it is public, it is permanent, it accrues to the community rather than the individual, and it cannot be spent.

It is worth being accurate about the stage this is at. Fifty deeds in a week is a promising first week in one community, not a movement, and 10,000 funded trees is a commitment rather than a forest. It is early, it is growing, and it is not yet a finished success.

Outcome

  • Trees funded

    10,000

  • Good deeds, first week

    50+

Status

Live and growing. Early.

Next

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Confidential mental health support for students and young professionals in Bangladesh, built with mental health professionals rather than around them.