The members of the first-ever dragon boat team composed of all-women household service workers (HSWs) working in Hong Kong paid a visit on 20 May 2018 to the Philippine Consulate General to seek support for their unprecedented project and present their plans for this year’s Dragon Boat Festival in Hong Kong.
The Filipino Dynamo Dragonboat Team, composed of 51 women from the domestic workers community, was formed in January 2018 by local adventurer Liza Avelino, who has climbed the top peaks in Hong Kong, Southeast Asia, and Japan before challenging herself to summit at Island Peak in the Himalayas in 2015 and Mt Kilimanjaro in 2017.
The team, whose members come from all over the territory, has trained every Sunday for 13 weeks in preparation for its debut race at the Dragon Boat Festival 2018 on 17 June in Discovery Bay. Their second race will be in Stanley Bay on 30 June 2018.
“We are inviting you to come support and watch us race side by side with other elite teams while we represent the mostly overlooked yet essential part of the Hong Kong community - the Foreign Domestic Workers,” said Ms Avelino. “The commitment, enthusiasm, determination and grit of these women will inspire you.”
In Hong Kong, the Dragon Boat Festival is a traditional holiday originating in China, where it is called the Duanwu Festival or Zhongxiao Festival. It occurs on the 5th day of the 5th month of the traditional Chinese calendar; this year it will take place on the 18th of June.
