The BAI-Team

Abusar Rahmati


I was born in Tehran in 1983. When I was 7 years old me, my sister and my parents moved to Cologne. In Germany I found plenty of international friends who were not very different than my friends in Iran.They had similar interests and hobbys. At the age of 16 I received the german passport which made travelling easier for me since I didn’t need a visa anymore.I travelled to some very exciting countries like Tunisia, Cuba, Arabic Emirates, USA, met a lot of interesting people and learned many things about their way of life, cultures and values.

In 2004 I began to study Economics and Business Administration. At the University of Cologne I joined AIESEC, because I was interested in meeting international students and working abroad.

In August 2004 I travelled to Iran for the first time after 14 years. Many of the iranian students I talked with were very intersted in other cultures and interships in a foreign country, but it was sad to see that they had no opportunity to apply for an international traineeship.

Back in Cologne I had the idea to establish AIESEC in Iran to give iranian students the chance to work abroad. I told Jonas who was the local committe president of AIESEC Cologne about my idea and he was convinced of it.
Together we managed to inspire other students of the extension initiative and to recruit a team who works on the project since February 2006.


Parisa Najafi Tonekaboni

I am 26 years old and from Iran. I study Orientalistik, Anthropology and Pedagogy at the university of Cologne. I finished highschool in Iran and came to Germany at the age of 18.

Coming to Germany was a big change in my life and very important for my later development. The first days in Germany were very exciting, the first months very confusing and the first years very difficult. Having my family by my side made many things easier. But still even after 8 years I am sometimes homesick. Iran is and always will be my home, but I am very happy to have the opportunity to live in Germany.

Cologne is a multi cultural city and every day you meet different people and learn about different countries and cultures. The diversity of the cultural life is also a reason, why I love Cologne. And the large Iranian community, which can be annoying sometimes because of the Iranians „unique lifestyle“, but at the same time this also gives me the feeling to being not very far from home.

I am very impressed by the independence of young people in Germany. They go their own way, experience differnet things, discover life and the world and if they make mistakes and suffer defeat, they try again and start all over. There is no „It won‘t work“, no „Its not possible“!

And this is, what I wish for young Iranians and why I am taking part in the Iran-project of Aiesec.

I am new in Aiesec and it was luck that I heard about this project, but I knew from the start that I wanted to take part in it!

I want to take part in something which does something for young students in Iran. I want this possibility for them, so that they can discover and learn something new, something else.

Aiesec is a very good example for what I said about the independence of young people. Every time I meet my Aiesec friends to speak about our Iran-project, I am impressed over and over again by their passion and application, by their working and thinking. So I am very happy to be a part of the Iran-team.

Jonas Lilienthal

I am a 23 year old student of business administration and mathematics, specializing in economic education, psychology and statistics. I like math for the logic and clear division between right and wrong.But my other specializations teach me that the real world is much more complicated :-)

I have lived most of my life in or around Cologne, Germany. That’s why I have done my best to see other places by travelling extensively. And that’s why I joined AIESEC as soon as I started my University career. Coming back from a nine month travel around the world and a wide range of experiences.

AIESEC gave me the perfect opportunity to continue my international experience. Additionally I got the chance to organize a conference for 300 delegates and was elected to lead the executive board of the cologne local comitee afterwards. Looking back I benefitted very much by having something like a ongoing “case study” in addition to the theory I learned at University and I became aware of my own interests, strenghts and weaknesses.


The idea of bringing AIESEC to Iran fascinated me instantly. On the one hand I am keen on getting to know the country with its cultural richness and famous hospitability. On the other hand I can imagine nothing more intense and inspiring than giving students the opportunities I had within AIESEC and connecting them our global network.

I am looking forward to our first visit in Iran and hope many more will follow!


Marc Chantelauze

As a son of a French father and an Indian mother, living diversity from the cradle was a central value in my life.I was born and raised in Bonn-Germany, where I attended French primary school. Since Bonn was the capital back then, my school mates were from Togo,Madagaskar,Benin,Guadeloupe,Québec , basically from all around the francophile world.

In 2004, at the age of 19, I moved to Cologne and began my studies in economics and politics.
Since I alwayss enjoyed a multicultural environment I was keen on getting to know students from abroad, which was one of the reasons why I joined AIESEC.

In my very first days at AIESEC, I met Abusar , who told me about his idea to build AIESEC in Iran. Persia had always been a region which fascinated me, therefore I wanted to be a part of this project right from the biginning. Abusar became a good friend of mine and introduced me to some of his Iranian friends,who thought me a lot about the Iranian history, culture and way of life.

What I was told about Iran, had very little in common with the image conveyed by the media.
I consider our project to build AIESEC in Iran as possibilty to eliminate prejudices , based on a very limtited perception of Iran and its people ,and as great opportunity to enable students from all over the world to get to know a fascinating and tradition-rich culture better.


Lisa Hashemi

I am 22 years old and I'm in my third year of Media Studies at the University of Cologne. As the weird combination of my first and surname suggests, I'm a mix of Persian and German blood. As my Persian father doesn't set any value on traditions (my parents actually got married in a catholic church) and doesn't feel any need to travel to his home country (last time in 1970), I didn't grow up "the Iranian way". Actually, I have been to Iran only once in my life: in spring 2005. Last year, my brother and me decided that waiting for our father to come with us would probably take a whole lifetime; so we booked the tickets to Teheran and told the family that we would come to see them.

We spent two exciting weeks in Iran. We saw devout believers crying in the holy city of Qom as well as young fashion victims looking for future spouses at the Caspian Sea. We had wild parties and visited families where men aren't even allowed to shake a woman's hand. And finally: we ate more within two weeks than any German stomach can ingest within a month!!

Right after this trip I joined AIESEC. When the idea of building AIESEC in Iran came up, I knew I had to be part of that project. On the one hand I'm sure that Iranian students can make an important contribution to our network. On the other hand I'd like to change people's mind about Iran. Many think of it only as an underdeveloped and dangerous place because they are heavily influenced by the media. It is my aim to show them another side of this beautiful country!