I met our speaker, Bethany Lerch, after she spoke at TEDxOshkosh 2016 about the pitfalls of taking the wrong approach to international aid from her time in Afghanistan. After returning from Afghanistan, Bethany, founded “able to” as a pilot student in September 2016. This program recognizes that women are in the forefront of positive change in Afghanistan. This initiative offers graduate degrees to qualified Afghan women. Candidates will develop their expertise and leadership skills while completing a two-year Masters Degree at University of Wisconsin – Oshkosh.
Bethany Lerch is a former Fulbright scholar to the German Rhineland and Rotary Foundation scholar to Saint Andrews. After graduate school in the United Kingdom, Bethany came back to Wisconsin to write and work with area non-profits. International opportunities led Ms Lerch back to Germany as an Assistant Lecturer of American Studies at the University of Leipzig, to Palestine as a volunteer English teacher, and to Afghanistan as a military trainer. This is her story of how Rotary was there in making a difference in her life and the world.
Failure, Persistence, and Success - How Rotary Helped Me Get There from Rotary eClub of the Southwest USA on Vimeo.