Cristina is The LiLi Centre’s Treasurer. Educated, smart with finances, and passionate about helping people.
Cristina moved to Lucerne five years ago as her husband’s company has their headquarters in Ebikon. She said, “We were living in Ebikon and there weren’t many people to talk to. I was feeling lonely, I didn’t settle very well with the language in the beginning and I couldn’t find a job. I discovered The LiLi Centre online and thought it would be a good way to put myself out there. I was looking for a role in finance and so I volunteered as the treasurer.”
The LiLi Centre became her second home. She shared, “It was the support I needed in a foreign country, moving here from Portugal. Now I want to give back what was given to me, that is, to help and support others on their journey looking for a friendly place. The centre is where I found people who understood the journey that I am on.”
Although Cristina and her husband moved to Dubai for two years, moved back to Switzerland, and now living in Zug, she returned to her volunteer role as treasurer at the centre because it is like family. And as she is now settled with her own company, she started the Small Business Network initiative to give back to the centre and to help people from other countries find their place and settle in more easily.
For Christina, it isn’t so much about a place, a city, but the people in it. “Lucerne has good things, Zug and Zürich too, but it is the people that make all the difference. I mean I definitely love the lake and the views here but for me it always comes back to the people,” she confided.
The LiLi Centre turning six means a lot to Cristina and it is why she continues to volunteer, to give back to the centre, as it changed her life around and gave her the belief and confidence in herself to start her own business and that is worth celebrating.
Lily Töngi-Andrews
