Where are the trees planted, and why there?

It is one of the first questions asked, and a fair one: where does the money go, and where does the tree grow? The answer is simple. The trees are planted in Africa, on the ground, by local teams.

That leaves the real question, the one that comes right after: why there rather than elsewhere?

Because the tree really produces there

A fruit tree is only of lasting interest if it gives fruit. That requires a climate that suits it, a suitable planting season, and soil where it can take root without constant assistance.

The species planted — banana, mango, papaya, guava, lemon, date palm — are trees that grow naturally at these latitudes. They are not imported species that would have to be kept alive artificially. Planted in the right place, a tree asks for little and gives for a long time.

Because the fruit has immediate value there

In a country where fruit is plentiful in supermarkets, one more tree changes little in people's daily lives. Where a harvest means both food and income, the same tree weighs infinitely more.

That is the difference between planting a tree and planting a useful tree. The act is the same; what it produces is not.

Because it gives people work on the ground

A planting is not a one-off act. The soil has to be prepared, the seedling put in the ground, watered during the first months, watched over, sometimes replaced. This work is done by local teams, and it is paid.

Part of what an order funds therefore goes not only to the tree, but to the employment of those who look after it. It is a less visible dimension than the photo of the planting, but it matters just as much.

What this means for sadaqa jariya

The idea of sadaqa jariya rests on a good that keeps serving over time. A tree meets this condition in two ways: it produces fruit year after year, and it provides a living for those who look after it.

A tree planted in poor conditions, which dies after one season, meets neither. The place of planting is therefore not a logistical detail: it is what determines whether the act lasts or not.

And the distance?

Planting far from home raises an understandable objection: you cannot see anything. This is precisely why proof matters so much. Dated and geolocated photos, a video, a name linked to the planting: distance demands a level of rigour that a planting in your own garden would not require.

Just because you cannot travel there does not mean you should settle for a promise.