Another great presentation at the Friday morning ERC Sunrise Meeting.
Our speaker, Bethany Rentsch, studied terrorism at the University of St Andrews in Scotland, lectured at the University of Leipzig in Germany, and taught young girls English and social responsibility in Palestine. She was recruited as a US Military advisor for the NATO mission in Afghanistan where she worked as a contractor trainer for 16 months.
Bethany shared her story of “Nation Building in Afghanistan: How it Began, Why it Failed, and What Happens Next”
What is Nation-Building?
Nation-building is a significant undertaking that governments employ to develop political, economic, security, and social institutions in other countries – especially those emerging from conflict like Afghanistan that has been at war between tribes as far back as 1793.
“We were void of fundamental understanding of Afghanistan – we didn’t know what we were doing” This long running campaign was extremely expensive in the loss of lives and dollars… 1 trillion. And, in “August 2021, the Taliban walked right back in”.
Bethany described the unforgiving landscape, her base, accommodations and the very pervasive negative attitude from her colleagues she encountered.
She shared, “What it was like in a theatre of conflict, especially one like Afghanistan” with the mission to train incoming NATO personnel about logistics, procurement, insider threats, the culture, and Islam.
Bethany applied the 5 Key Principals of Trauma Informed Care to her experience in Afghanistan.
1. Safety – create areas that promote a sense of safety
“There can be no forward movement without safety, which was never a certainty. The history of violence between tribes, the terrain, and poor planning by the Coalition made security unsustainable at best.”
2. Trust – provide clear and consistent information
“We never had a strong end game, which only empowered the Taliban. Too often we leaned on money to make things better. Eventually it was simply stolen. Over time, corruption became the first and worst risk to deteriorating security in Afghanistan.”
3. Choice – provide options for treatment and care
“Choice was only ever limited because political parties lacked power, as did ordinary citizens. The president ruled mostly alone, by design, which was reinforced by the West.”
4. Collaboration – maximize collaboration between health care staff, patients, and their families
“Their ability to collaborate was compromised by frequent insider attacks. Afghans were similarly frustrated by collateral deaths and injuries after Coalition airstrikes and operations.”
5. Empowerment – build upon a patient’s strengths and experiences
“The US and the West wanted women to have equal rights. Even then, Afghan women were resented and rarely treated fairly by their male counterparts.”
Today Bethany is a Psychology Associate, State of Wisconsin, Clinical Mental Health Counselor specializing as a Trauma Recovery Therapist for women who are incarcerated within Wis. Department of Corrections. She is a past Fulbright and Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar, as well as an Outstanding Young Alumni from the University of Wisconsin – Oshkosh.
Thank you, for sharing your experiences as a NATO trainer and for your current work with women… exploring and treating trauma… “What Happened to You?” Not, “What’s Wrong with You?”
