E6. Stories from Dhaka, Dallas and Disasters_Rumana Kabir with Stephen Pine

Rumana Kabir starts My MARS mantra podcast to spread stories from changemakers she has met throughout her career in disasters and development. She was inspired by the authors of 'Story Listening project' and wanted to create a platform for people to listen to each other's stories from around the world. Her journey began in Bangladesh, where she witnessed the disparities between her own privileged life and the lives of street children. Rumana became interested in disaster risk management after hearing her grandfather's story of the 1970s cyclone. During her diverse professional career, as an architect, aid worker, international development consultant; and now as a civil servant and academic, she feels that the root causes of problems are often personal, cultural and systemic; not just technical solution can solve all the problems of this world. The solutions should focus on policies grounded from people's insights. Rumana shared 'Battling the Storm' by Architect Bashirul Haq, and her own work, 'Post-Cyclone Sidr Family Shelter Construction in Bangladesh Documentation of Plans and Processes' as important pieces of work, where peoples' insights on resilient housing solutions are highlighted. Both of these publications are available online for free. For further information and to read more on this subject visit mymarsmantra.com Email: mymarsmantra@gmail.com