Years ago, an American World Bank employee was sent to Brazil to assist an indigenous community with its development plans. She had many ideas to share, but the community leaders knew what they wanted:“All we need is a cantina,” they told her. She soon left in frustration, unable to sway them from this notion. Driven by curiosity, she returned to this community two years later to see how they were faring, and was stunned to find that a main road, a school, and a health center—all aspects of her original plan—had been built. When she met with community leaders, she learned that all of these things were made possible because of the cantina they had created with the help of a European organization. Once the cantina was in place, the community had somewhere to meet and discuss what else they believed was needed.
