What Does Bangladesh Need?

Bangladesh is a country with overwhelming needs.  Everywhere I look I see beggars with hollow eyes pleading for baksheesh or yet another outrageously skinny laborer slaving in the baking sun.  I see grinding poverty daily but often have no idea how to approach the problems.  When I was taking International Development studies in university, I naively figured that grand solutions to the world's problems could be found within my lifetime.  Now, having experienced life in Bangladesh, I understand that I do not and never will have any answers to the world's biggest development-puzzles.  I'm not entirely sure I even know the right questions to ask.       

Anyways, as I was ruminating on the ideas I mentioned above, I remembered a project my students completed last year.  They students created a short video that asked locals (and some expats) on the street what they would ask for if a genie granted them one wish.  The results surprised me at the time but now that I've been here for a bit longer, it makes a good amount of sense...and I think that the people of Bangladesh know full well what they need. 

This video contains people I see/saw on a regular basis and far more expatriates than would be normal to find on the street on any given afternoon.  Check it out!  (By the way, I am super-proud of my students for creating this video.)  Cheers!