Young philanthropist, globetrotter, and leader Lisa Chiriseri from Zimbabwe!

Good morning everyone!

Oh my Gosh!

Today Marco and Erica welcome a special guest and for the occasion, Marco looks wonderful, sharp as a knife!

To start a spot against the use and abuse of drugs: Marco wishes a good start to the week on Friday and asks you to comment on how you find the colour of his hair, freshly retouched. He could use some assistance, do you agree?

Here comes today’s guest for the occasion!

Fantastic, a beautiful woman and a very young leader, philanthropist and globetrotter who, as Marco says, maybe she can give him something too, a cure!

Listed as one of the Top Ten African Youth in Philanthropy and one of the Top 40 Under 30 Emerging Leaders in Zimbabwe 2015, she was selected to participate in former US President Obama’s Mandela Washington Fellowship Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI) in 2016.

A young girl but one who has achieved so much in 10 years, for women, education, homelessness. A woman who, as Erica says, is amazing!

The song chosen to introduce Lisa Chiriseri is an ode to women: “Whatever you want / whatever you need / Anything you want done, Baby / I’ll do it, naturally / ‘Cause I’m every woman (every woman) / what you’re looking for is all in me, / it’s all in me / yeah” Whitney Houston’s cover of Chaka Khan’s I’m Every Woman track.

Ah yes, Marco’s premise was that if anyone dared to call them not good singers they should go away. So guys, we just have to say goodbye and look forward to the next episode!

Lisa has always lived in Zimbabwe, with the exception of three years where she stayed in amazing Malaysia, her second home.

She grew up in a family that was special because of the values they passed on to her. Even as a child, she saw poor people on the streets, children, and her parents responded willingly to her interested questions about these less fortunate, jobless and struggling people.

In addition, her family was steeped in African culture. So her home was never without a foster child, help and advice for someone in need or a passerby in need who was welcomed without a second thought. Lisa gleaned from her amazing parents from an early age the natural ability to give herself endlessly to those less fortunate than herself.

Therefore, this sense of responsibility extended to all members of the village, welcoming everyone indiscriminately! Because we are all on the same “earth”!

Marco: “I can come to your house at 2 a.m. and be welcomed, can’t I?”

It would be great then to extend this concept (not to host Marco at 2 a.m. eh) all over the world, we could avoid referring to welfare support systems!

Think viewers! Lisa started formulating this idea around the age of 10-12. Marco was still playing with ninja turtles at that age! And he continued there until he was 20!

Think about how active Marco was until that age!

Lisa’s first project was the Soup kitchen, which ran for five years.

Then, still at the age of 18-19 years old, as soon as she finished school, she began to dedicate herself to children over 16 years old who had not been able to successfully enter society. In fact, while there are many associations that assist children and their families, for this age group here none of them meets their needs.

Therefore, these kids were co-opted into this initiative of cooking together and using the meal as a means to interact, create connection and contact.

Between one sadza and another (a typical Zimbabwean dish as Tendaiishe Chitima had told us) made with meat and vegetables donated by herself, the Mayor, the Church, groups of young people grouped together, sharing their experiences, perhaps instilling the courage to continue or undertake a path, and helping the less fortunate to support themselves.

As mentioned above then, she was selected to participate in the Mandela Washington Fellowship Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI) by former U.S. President Obama in 2016. Among thousands of those who applied, therefore, she was selected for her background, collimating with the profiles required for this fantastic experience.

Lisa wears the traditional clothes of her country especially on big occasions, like the celebration of weddings in the form of tradition.

She wears a hairdo that Marco loves, with this hair a couple of meters long… quite long let’s say and typical earrings.

At the moment she works in the educational field, to help young people to re-enter society successfully, helped to study and to undertake, continue and complete a course of study.

With Covid, there has been a shift to online study, and this has caused many young people, having no choice, to turn more and more toward this path versus doing nothing. So it’s nice and important that there is a community where they can go, where they are followed and supported in their journey.

Marco has been too serious so far! We need an embarrassing question!

How is Lisa’s love life going? She has had someone for 5-6 years and is waiting to make it official.

For example, Marco and Erica have been dating for eight years, it’s well past time for Marco to ask Erica the crucial question, “What are we eating tonight?”, that’s the big question!

Lisa is a globetrotter. A few days before our interview she was in Harare, the capital of Zimbabwe surrounded by giraffes and elephants, like Jasmine in Aladdin! A fantastic experience much cheaper and different from the safari.

Marco: “Admit it, you were hungry! You were looking for food!”

Lisa likes to travel a lot. Of course, then she always has to try to minimize the costs to be able to move. And Marco, in this case, gives a very useful advice that of course, you viewers can experience too! Crawling under the aeroplane, while Erica was locked in a suitcase with an oxygen tank to breathe… try it! Obviously calculating well the timing of the canister, not like in this case where at a certain point it ended and Erica managed to survive anyway, fortunately!

In this period of quarantine obviously it’s more difficult, so she started to travel more in Zimbabwe, discovering the local beauties and her own origins.

In particular, on the border with Zambia, the Zambezi River falls into a narrow ravine about 120 meters wide forming the Victoria Falls.

Usually, Lisa travels alone, although she changes plans many times. In any case, she generally tries to make sure she knows at least one person from the places she visits.

Marco: “I, on the other hand, have a precaution, I carry a bazooka with me! Don’t make me use it!”

Marco! Marco!

Lisa continues with her projects to assist children, women and men in need. In particular, she introduces us to the initiative she is working on, her first social enterprise, the Women in Energy Group, founded in 2015, which has provided sustainable access to safe, clean energy in the form of explosion-proof LPG gas stoves and tanks with localized supply points for over 6,000 households in Zimbabwe.

Lisa is very supportive of women, charities, for the world to become more responsible, including environmentally and economically. For example, this project is designed to empower women and youth economically along the entire corporate value chain.

And in these projects it is certainly not that she enjoys the time with a cup of tea or piña colada, but works in the field, coordinating the many realities that unite for these purposes, each with its own specificity.

Awesome!!! A girl so committed to helping your community! Committed to giving opportunities is truly remarkable! People trying to change the world not just in words but in actions!

“We need more people like Lisa in the world!”

An unmissable episode with a beautiful person! And who knows that sooner or later we won’t see Marco and Erica in Zimbabwe among giraffes and crocodiles? Only by following us you will find out!