Trainer in Afghanistan

Time to say goodbye

2007-04-01T08:44:00.000-07:00

Time to say goodbye (posted by Chrisi)
I was actually a bit sad when going to the airport on Friday. We had a great time in Kabul: I got to know a new country & culture, had the great opportunity to live in an Afghan family and the AIESEC members we met were AWESOME! Moreover it was a great experience for us as trainers. Everything went really smoothly in Kabul and it seemed like our personalities, experience and training styles matched really well. :-)
We would like to thank Wadan, Bahadur, Paserly and Hamed for their commitment & hard work during the 2 weeks. We are confident that with your passion & energy you will lead AIESEC in Afghanistan to full membership in 2008!

We wish you all the best for your term!

Big Hug!
Mahmood, Ümit & Chrisi

last training days

2007-03-31T10:16:00.000-07:00

The last training days
Functional Takeover
After the exciting member day it was time for some functional take over.
Ümit & Paserly discussed Exchange, Mahmood & Wadan had some takeover and I (Chrisi) gave PD (People Development) and some External Relations transition to Bahadur. We discussed the recruitment campaign, the introduction period, possible trainings for the new members and how to involve companies as learning partners. We also talked a bit about the competency model, how to achieve a high retention rate and some functional ER things.

The Vision of AIESEC Afghanistan & the MC year plan.
The last day was very packed since we wanted to make sure all goals we set in the first days were achieved. Mahmood started the day with a discussion about AIESEC vision & values. After listing to Martin Luther Kings speech “ I have a dream” it was up to us to talk about our dream / vision in life and it was really great to hear everyone’s thoughts about this!
Then the MC defined their vision for AIESEC in Afghanistan:

Then we gave & explained the MC our planning toolkit and started with the planning which will be finalized by the MC within the next days.
At the end of the day we made the goal & expectations check…
Were all goals & expectations fulfilled?
It seems so … :-)

Expectations-1 day

All expectations fulfilled are now on the safe island :-)

And after two weeks of discussions, involvement of all members, hard thinking & debates the Mascot finally got it s name: let me present GOLO! He will soon get his own passport – so that he can join the AIESEC Afghanistan members on their trips abroad

Message from the Afghan MC

2007-03-31T09:54:00.000-07:00

We had great time together with German trainers in Kabul - Afghanistan. Their visit and trainings in Kabul were very helpful and functional to AIESEC in Afghanistan because it showed us the long term commitment from AIESEC in Germany towards AIESEC in Afghanistan. The support from Germany helps us achieve our goals that are to become full member of AIESEC network at IPM 2008, raise funds, have many exchanges and have many members with high potential. The German Trainers spent their 14 days in order to make more improvements to AIESEC in Afghanistan. The trainers were professionals and much friendly. The difficult and amazing part was pronouncing one of the trainers name “Umit” and it was interesting and enjoyable. With them we had one good day with all aiesec members and it was quit useful for all of the members. Our MC wishes that they had great time and memories from AIESEC in Afghanistan and hopefully they come back again someday.

Best regards
MC
AIESEC in Afghanistan

Chrisi discovering Afghanistan: Shopping, Jogging & Eating in Kabul

2007-03-31T09:31:00.000-07:00

Chrisi's shopping tour in Kabul

Sunday morning I decided that it was time to do some shopping to by some Afghan cloths for myself and lots of souvenirs for my family & friends at home: So Shaista (Mahmood’s cousin) and I spent the whole morning going from shop to shop. After 10 days in Afghanistan I felt quite safe walking around Kabul, just her younger brother accompanied us. We started in “Chicken Street” where all tourists go to buy souvenirs: You can get absolutely everything there but it s also very expensive, so we went to some smaller bazaars where you can get exactly the same items just much lower prices: It seems like the most popular souvenirs are Afghan cloths, hand bags and jewelry of all kind. Shaista impressed me and the shop owners with her bargaining skills ;-)

Burger Restaurants and crazy taxi drivers
Afterwards we went to a burger place, where I made the mistake to just grab the first chair available and sit down. The staring of all the men showed me that something was wrong and I was told that this room is for men, and the room behind the curtain is for women. There we met two very nice women, one was head of the English department at her school and we had a very nice conversation about Germany and Afghanistan.
We then took at taxi to the AIESEC office and I realized once again that the most dangerous thing about living in Afghanistan is the traffic and the crazy taxi drivers: Nobody wears seatbelts, traffic lights are constantly ignored and if they want to impress you they overtake the other cars left and right on narrow bumpy streets.

Jogging in Kabul Park
After 10 days without any exercise I suddenly felt the urgent need to go jogging. Bahadur (MC VP PD) accompanied me and we went for a walk & some jogging in Kabul Park: People in the street always stare at me – but apparently there are not many women that go jogging there so today I caught even more attention than usual.

Today I got a special gift: Mahmood’s cousin Jawed who is tailor made a beautiful Afghan dress & for me. It s black with red decorations and looks very nice J

2007-03-31T08:53:00.000-07:00

thoughts of jawan...

2007-03-26T10:17:00.000-07:00

A Team with big Responsibility

By Jawan Shir Rasikh

I would like to first mention my thanks and regards for German Team, Mahmood Nisar, Umit, Chrisi who have again walked over AIESEC-Afghanistan and get opened the doors back. So, as well as it could be an effort of Wadan Farahi new elected President of AIESES-Afghanistan terms 2007-2008 who made clear the challenges facing AIESEC-Afghanistan at IPM 2006 in Egypt.

While, during the last six months, I was about to not feel positive about AIESEC-Afghanistan's circumstance and its progress. But, I did believe on this saying”Wanting Is Ability “I was believing that days are not over yet with AIESEC-Afghanistan. So,days started again by GTKs ( German Trainer in Kabul ) with full training support over Afghanistan MC mostly with Wadan Farahi ( President of AIESEC )- Lutfullaq Paserly ( Exchange VP ) Bahadurllah ( PD-VP ) and Ahmed Hamed ( Finance Director ) which started from the beginning march until the end of march.

It was right Saturday 17^th-March-2007 I was told by Paserly that there is going to be a full day training for all AIESEC-Afghanistan Members. What I planned was that I decided to participate in the training and take the chance to add a little bit over my AIESEC-EXPERIENCE. So, I should say to Umit that I am sorry for being late in the session, but what to say? this happens sometimes in every AIESEC worldwide. What I learnt from the chance was the Principle of Taking Responsibility from GTKs. Especially, what I learned from Umit was that he was always trying, focusing, encouraging, making to transfer something to the participants what he had with himself during the session. I liked his smarty during the session, I mean he was trying to show himself for the participants that he keeps his eyes over the participants and how much interested is he and as well as Mahmood plus Chrisi to do something big till bring a change into AIESEC-Afghanistan. So, it was great for me on that time with any ways that was done by GTKs and we need to see ourself responsible what we have to do in @ Afghanistan...!

I myself learnt three games from the GTKs during their stay with us in AIESEC-Afghanistan and more important that the games were new, productive for myself and I hope that be with others as well.

One thing that I am emphasising in AIESEC-Afghanistan is the Principle of Taking Responsibility a Task and Doing that Task. This means, AIESEC-members in Afghanistan must take the responsibility if they want to get AIESEC-Afghanistan Full Membership during the next IPM 2008. I recommend for AIESEC-Afghanistan to create the opportunity and use the opportunity in order to have an impact over itself AIESEC-Afghanistan to show and accomplish its promises to @-International.

In consequences and to end this story, it was all great and more useful from GTKs during their stay in AIESEC-Afghanistan. I myself now feel positive about AIESEC-Afghansitan and I see a hope which is created in @ Afghanistan and more important is for me which is unique from former MCP and VPs that a feel of enthusiasm is existence in the current MCP and VPs. This means, our new elected MCP and VPs are somehow not that much experienced than our former MCP and VPs but it very important that a feel of enthusiasm and to do something for AIESEC-Afghanistan is coming from them. I keep my fingers crossed for AIESEC-Afghanistan and wish lots of success and happiness during their period.

Regards,

Jawan Shir Rasikh

--------------------------

AIESEC-Afghanistan Exchange Teamleader

ümit's time to leave...

2007-03-26T10:11:00.000-07:00

time goes so fast, especially times of important, exciting and funny work. now it is my time to face this cruel truth and i’m back in germany, sitting alone in my room, feeling somhow lonely, having my heart still in afghanistan…

leaving was not easy… i don’t just mean the 50 hours trip back home, but expecially the goodbye to AIESEC afghanistan, to my trainer-colleagues, but especially to the mc-team: hamed, bahadur, wadan and paserly…

i spent great times around here, i enjoyed every second and my 100% motivation was pushed to 150% by the people around here, in terms of rocky balboa i would call it “the eye of the tiger” and believe me, all the mc had the eye of the tiger, the wish and the desire to bring AIESEC in afghanistan into the right path, into the path of full membership 2008, into the path of personal development of each member, into the path of being part of the network…

thanks to everybody, who made the project/visit happen!

but still its not over, i already feel like a part of AIESEC in afghanistan and i’ll always be available and ready for any help or support…

as my final sentence i would like to recommend to all of us to face the real afghanistan by building a bridge, at least my contacting people around here, but also by CEED, traineeship or just visiting this country. you would always be welcome and you would have an unforgettable time full of exciting impressions and maximum hospitality…

all the best to AIESEC in afghanistan,

ciao,

ümit

time for functional take-over...

2007-03-19T10:04:00.000-07:00

today, after a little sleep-in, i’ve been to the office with wadan.
there paserly was already waiting for me and he welcomed me with a big and friendy hug… ;)
we immediatelly started the functional take-over for exchange.

paserly is responsible for both, incoming and outgoing exchange. the problem in these fields always was that the former vp’s were not really able to build a team out of the members and to provide the team with meaningful and effective work/projects… some of the members even did nothing… also information and knowledge was not shared with everybody. on this basis an exchange-team never can work, it can’t even develop in a sustainable way for the next years and next generations…

paserly was amazing, he recognized all that himself but before we talked about all those challenges we tried to specifiy his knowledge and experience.

after that we had a big introduction on how to find which information where in the aiesec network, of course also how the network is working and how to do all this in a efficient way. paserly was very excited about that and now he wants to go through all important documents, communities, forums etc. in aiesec.net, “sounds good” i told him… ;)

we discussed also how to structure a team, how to lead it, how to motivate it and how to perform as a team. can’t wait to see first results including a proud parsely…

the challenge is definitly to reach the criteria for full aiesec membership.

last year they only had 1 exchange and the biggest difficulties are the sn’s, who somehow just want to go to germany, us etc. (what about marketing, image?), huge visa issues for sn’s, some are waiting for a visa for 3 month and longer and another challenge is that still not too many sn’s from all around the world are not that much interested in doing an internship in kabul, afghanistan.

right now there are 7 available tn’s and about 5 available sn’s…

paserly is already in contact with lots of companies and some tn’s are in the pipeline ;)

we also figured out that there is no tn in the fiel of development, so there is a huge potential in the field. paserly can’t waits to implement this in his planning. ;)

after long discussions, some power cut-offs and lots of internet-problems we closed the day and paserly promised me to keep me informed during the whole year about his activities, about his planning and about the status of reaching the goals.

after the takeover we were invited for dinner at adem basheed’s place, he is an outgoer and he is matched, he is just still waiting for the visa.

the dinner was great, like all the dinners i had here before! mike was with us and we talked about aiesec, business, politics and about the british culture… ;)

the day was great and when i returned to wadan’s place we closed the day by talking and in the backgroud the t.v. was on, “superman returns” kept us motivated still to work hard for “peace and fulfilment of humankind’s potential”…

;)

good night,

ümit

a "light" big-picture...

2007-03-17T08:28:00.000-07:00

today we had a very important day, we invited all @members of afghanistan and we had a “light” big picture.

we were able to achieve these things:

- MC and trainer could motivate the member

- the trainer were able to show all an international and diverse "picture" of @

- MC and Trainer could deliver a great and nice atmosphere to discuss and talk about @

- it was a very good kickoff for MC and member

it was so much fun and we had lots of inspirational moments…
this was really a great day!

kind regards to germany,

chrisi, mahmood, ümit

ümit arriving...

2007-03-17T08:23:00.000-07:00

today is wednesday and finally i was joining the trainers-team.

its great to be in kabul and this very first day was already quite special for me.

after a looooong trip from berlin to cologne to frankfurt to cologne (the flight was canceled) to frankfurt to dubai to kabul chrisi, mahmood, wadan (mcp) and barai (member) catched me at the airport, 10 am.

first we’ve been to wadan’s place, i will stay their during my week here in kabul. on our way i already got the first impressions of kabul.

some smelling was bad (exhaust, litter) but some were very nice (food)…

but wadan definitly knew how to make me happy, because at the next corner he bought some kebab, which we ate together with another great meal at his place, made by his mother…

during this lunch we talked about my trip, about afghanistan, about AIESEC and about the sessions of the last days run by chrisi and mahmood.

after lunch immediatelly we’ve been to to AIESEC office and started to work. work can be fun, especially if you use football for teambuilding and get-2-know ;)

no, it was not only the fact that my team has lost the match, also having chrisi in the other team, scoring the most, was not easy to accept by me… ;)

we started the real work by summarizing all what have been done before (see the post of chrisi about the past days), about the content, about points that were discussed and about the conclusions.

after that we had a get-2-know, run by me, to get to know each other better, to build up more trust and to get to know the strengths of all participants.

in the next session we as a trainerteam introduced us, especially on the functional level… during my introduction i saw parsely’s eyes shining, he is responsible for exchange and they told me that he was waiting for me desperately… ;)

after that we introduced the struktur of @ germany, especially to show them, how the get when, which information and support.

at the very end we talked about the story of @ in afghanistan (see post of mahmood), about the very beginning until today…

we even had a videomessage of marcus wittig for the mc-team. they were very impressed and somehow it boosted their motivation. nice to observe those things. ;)

at the end of the day, when eveybody left, chrisi, mahmood and me we reflected about the whole day and prepared the next day, teambuilding-day ;)

in the evening we had dinner with mike dawson, he is here for a very long time, the first ceeder ever and he already can speak „dari“, he is very nice, open and helps us with everything. his company is on the same yard as the @office, so he is always very close and helps us whenever he can.

with the taxi very late at night we’ve been home and the was nothing left for me but to fall down asleep, i was so tired, i was about to die… )

the day was fantastic, exciting, so full of different impressions, so new, so contradictory, so friendly, so increbdible! ;)

kind regards from kabul, afghanistan,

ümit

the first days...

2007-03-17T08:13:00.000-07:00

Arriving in Kabul: Friday 09.03.2007 (posted by Chrisi)

When we (Mahmood & Chrisi) arrived at the airport in Afghanistan there was already the first positive surprise: The cue for checking the passports was long, but women were invited to go in front :-)
Wadan the MCP picked us up, we quickly stopped at the office where we met Mike (former Ceeder from the UK and now doing an internship at Paiwastoon) and then went to Mahmood’s family.
Their hospitality is amazing and something I will always remember. They served us delicious food and since only one family member could speak English, we had some interesting & funny conversations communicating just through gestures.

The first days of Training

Saturday was an exciting day: We met the whole MC (all boys), did some Get To Know and discussed a draft agenda for the coming days. In order to have a good basis for the coming 11 training days, we exchanged our expectations explained each others back grounds and started analyzing the situation of AIESEC in Afghanistan. At the end of the day we felt very happy & satisfied because we found the MC very motivated, extremely committed and with high potential! :-)

On Sunday we shared our expectations and finalized the goals for the 2 weeks training which were then signed by everybody. Other sessions of the first days included: Defining team rules, @ Afghanistan and it’s environment, SWOT analysis of all functional areas and many more….

An exciting moment was also when Mahmood introduced his present for the team: the new AIESEC Afghanistan mascot. The challenge now is to find a name for this cute fellow: during the next days all members will have the chance to write down potential names.

Next to the MC Football there is a nice garden – so played some football during the break. It was great fun and I showed them that girls actually do play football :-)
I was asked today if I find it weird being the only girl all the time – I answered that on the contrary I am having great fun and apart from that I m used to it because on the Belgian MC, out of the 6 members I am also the only girl…..

Monday:
Today we delivered sessions about AIESEC in general & the international structure. We started with a history ppt which ended in a long & interesting discussion about AIESEC’s importance in the world, the situation in Afghanistan and it s role in the international community. Then we discussed AIESEC structures (AI,GN, MC, LC, NST), important @ communities and the international Conference cycle. We ended the day with the IC 2006 Video. The MC team got very excited about going to IC 2007 and Chrisi got a bit up set that her MC term is finishing soon and thought about different ways how to attend the next IC :-)

the history...

2007-03-17T08:03:00.001-07:00

In December 2002 AIESEC Frankfurt am Main / Germany hosted a conference about developing ideas for Afghanistan: NIFA 2002 - New Ideas for Afghanistan (www.nifaonline.com). In five workshops students, professors and professionals from the German government and NGO have developed strategies for reconstructing the country.

One of the Workshops: AIESEC in Afghanistan

After the wrap-up of the conference AIESEC in Frankfurt started building up AIESEC in Afghanistan in mid 2003. In March 2004 “Building AIESEC in Afghanistan” became a national project of AIESEC in Germany.

Since Feb 2005, AIESEC in Afghanistan is an official AIESEC extension country. After March 2006 the initiatives is running by Afghan students completely. Thanks Allah the second MC Afghanistan Generation started its job from March 2007. The Mission of this team is to be a full member at the International President Meeting (IPM) by February 2008. For more information have a look on -http://www.aiesec.org.af or http://discover.aiesec.org.af

the beginning...

2007-03-17T07:58:00.000-07:00

Hey aiesec!

welcome to our new blog: trainerinafghanistan.blogspot.com!

we created this blog to keep you informed about the activities of chrisi, mahmood and ümit as the german trainersteam in kabul (GTK).

we have lots of sessions, workshops and activities with all the members of AIESEC in afghanistan, especially with the newly selected MC… the main objectives are teambuilding, functional takeover, planning and living the aiesec values ;)

here we have short introduction of the trainersteam:

mahmood:

Salam to every one, my name is Mahmood Nisar and I am very glad to be back in Kabul. One of my deepest wishes is that one day AIESEC in Afghanistan is running independently and strong. Therefor I feel the ownership to train the new MC of AIESEC in Afghanistan on their path to become a fullmember in AIESEC Network by the end of their term, Feb. 2008.

I was born in Afghanistan, had an unforgetable childhood there and love the culture, people and ist mountains. I am since 2002 within AIESEC (Germany) and involved from first moment in our project bringing this unique organisation to Afghanistan. After going back to Germany I am going to finish my studies and trying to continue my work between Germany and Afghanistan as a „ free man“ (means no student any more ;-). Thanks

ümit:
hey guys,
i’m ümit and i’m part of the GTK (german trainers in afghanistan) and i’m very proud to be able to represent @ germany here in afghanistan!
i’m from the local committee cologne, there i was vp ogx and last term i was part of the national support team. fortunately i also had my exchange-experience by a traineeship in 2004 in jaipur, india.
during IC last summer in poland i was able to facilitate a feedback- and planning-session with the old and new afghan MC. i was so excited to see the development of @ in afghanistan and i also had to realize, that the still need support.
therefor i was so excited when i applied for this short training-project and i’m soooooooooooooo happy and proud to be here!
we will do our best to give the new MC a great kickoff and all information they need, to have a fantastic and successful term here in kabul.
can’t wait to tell you more about everything when i’m back in germany. ciao, ümit

Chrisi: Currently MC VPER in Belgium, former member of LC Passau

I have been thinking about going to Afghanistan for over 2 years now.
The idea first came up in 2004 during my MC Ceed in China, when I started reading the AIESEC Afghanistan newsletters. More then a year later I met the Afghan delegation at IC and asked them about possibilities to go to Afghanistan with AIESEC. I planned to go in September after my MC term in Belgium for a CEED or an Internship.
I am very happy that I got the opportunity to go to Afghanistan now because this gives me the opportunity to discover this amazing country and plan possible next steps.