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Lou Moreau North Vancouver, British Columbia Canada Click Here to Donate Now!

I am celebrating my third year of survivorship, and more and more I am beginning to feel like a survivor/thriver. It has taken me a while to ride this emotional roller coaster of breast ca recovery since my diagnosis on my 54th birthday. Definitely the biggest challenge of my life!

At the present time , I am feeling more grounded, content,optimistic, and physically,mentally and spiritually balanced than ever before. My recreational time is spent on a wide variety of activities - swimming, hiking, kayaking, snowshoeing. Every one of them I love. I am very involved as a 3rd year paddler with the original Abreast in a Boat Dragon Boat Team.

Currently, I, like the rest of my teamates, are busy preparing for our 10th Anniversary Celebration this June 2005, where we will be hosting over two thousand Breast Cancer Dragon Boaters and supporters.

I am also a volunteer for the Breast Cancer Foundation,Canada, and the Breast Cancer Alliance for Information and Support, which is where I recently met Marly (another AHO participant). Serendipity! I had just that day heard about Amazon Heart Odyseey and here she was talking to me about it. I  thought ...Wow! This is for me!

I also work as a Volunteer Grandparent (a super-young one) with 2 beautiful multicultural kids. As well, I take care of my 4 yr. old godson who is the love of my life. I am semi-retired but still have my own counselling practice. I live with my partner Val, who is the other love of my life, and we have been together for 14 years.She is extremely supportive of all my volunteering, paddling, and travel adventures.

Ever since my diagnosis I have been moving towards a "calling", not clear
what it was at first but it has finally crystallized. I want to do international community development work! This was a long forgtten goal dating back to my nursing graduation year from university in 1970. But I put it aside since the timing was not quite right and simply went solo travelling for a year instead. That started a whole life time of travel adventures.

Most recently I was in Shanghai (World Dragon Boat Championships with Internationally Abreast) and Vietnam. In Vietnam I visited and brought many gifts for my brand new 2nd "foster child" in her home and community through Foster Parents Plan International. What a highlight that was!I wanted to stay and work then but this wasn't possible.  

Last year I also travelled to South Africa( yet another World Champion Dragon Boat Event). Our Abreast in a Boat team raised over $20,000 to help a pre-school and community dig a bore-hole to provide clean drinking water tanks for all their needs. We also brought school supplies, first aid supplies, etc. Our connection with these wonderful children continues, and their smiles and tears are permanently in my heart.

The year before I had travelled to the Amazon in S.A., and again I was
able to visit a  grass roots project to help a very remote village  retain
their culture and improve their living circumstances. Each of these visits has been a great inspiration, and I just know that this is what I am meant to be doing with my life now. The timing is finally right! That's why when I
heard about the Sri Lanka Project, I did not hesitate for a moment. I knew that I would go on this worthwhile adventure.

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