Celebrating Sisterhood and Mexico’s First Breast Cancer Dragon Boat Festival
Submitted by JoAnne Moore.
Members of Linked in Pinks representing ten BCS teams in the USA and Canada traveled to Mexico in late January to participate in Mexico’s first dragon boat festival “Rosa Mexicano.” in Puerto Aventuras, Mexico. The 4-day festival included paddling training sessions on the beach each morning led by LIPS founder JoAnn Moore, National Representative Ruth Ortiz Castro (Colombia) and LIPS sisters. Afternoons were filled with educational seminars on nutrition, survivor support and medical information for those in attendance.
Festival racing turned out to have a North American flair with Busting Out Ottawa (Cana-da), Samchak Kukulkán, (Mexico) and Linked in Pinks (USA) vying for medals in 200m, 500m and 1500 m races. There were close finishes that excited the local crowd gathered and wonder-ful sisterhood moments celebrated as the Canadian and US paddlers shared dragon boat festival traditions with the women of paddle arches and a moving flower ceremony.
Throughout the 4-day festival, organizers went all out with an incredible parade and a breathtaking opening cere-mony featuring the Mayan culture. Attendees were also treated to a mindfulness ceremony on the beach and performances by local musicians where paddlers traveled to different locations and enjoyed concerts from the water.
Congratulations to the Rosa Mexicano organizers for this incredible and memorable first festi-val they put together. The future of dragon boat paddling for our survivor sisters in Mexico is off to a great start.
