The wonderful Belles pulling on the paddles of their bright pink dragon boat are the first Breast Cancer Survivor Dragon Boat Racing Team in Africa. See them in action this Breast Cancer Awareness Month at the Dragon Boat Regatta at Zandvlei in Muizenberg on Saturday 15 October. The ladies will be competing in the dragon boat race which they co-organised with the Rotary Club Cape of Good Hope to raise funds towards the treatment and care of breast cancer patients.

You can watch this gorgeous team of Cape Town dragon boat racers practise on Wednesdays, 5.30pm for 6pm and Saturday, 9am for 9.30am at the Cape Grace Quay at the V&A Waterfront. Breast cancer survivors are invited to give it a try and as paddler Jenny Heunis says, “Marvel at the beauty of Table Mountain and come off the water feeling refreshed, renewed and so glad to be alive!”

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and there is no more positive message than this group of women who survived their cancers and met their dragons face on! They are all in the same boat, literally and figuratively and this common factor involving pain, suffering, survival and hope creates the most amazing sisterhood.

Their stories are moving and many tell of a fundamental shift in the way they look at life: “I once met a lady that said she’s glad she got cancer and that it was the best thing that ever happened to her. I could see the incredible journey, self-knowledge, courage and growth it must’ve take to come to that conclusion and I knew that’s where I wanted to be – to be able to have faced all your fears and dragons and come out victorious. And I’m finally there after 2 years, 4 months, 2 weeks and 4 days.” ~ Eldre Strydom

You never know when breast cancer will affect you or your family, so go and support the amaBele Belles and all the other dragon boat racers at Zandvlei Yacht Club on Saturday 15 October.

P.S. We have just heard that even though Eldre Strydom thought that having a baby was something she was going to have to miss out on, she didn’t give up and gave birth to a healthy son just a couple of weeks ago. He is the Belle’s first baby – congratulations Eldre!