Faced with the heart-breaking and often chaotic journey of breast cancer patients in the public health sector; Dr Liana Roodt decided that something needed to be done. Not only were these women subjected to agonisingly long waiting times for surgery, they were also mostly isolated in their struggle with a daunting diagnosis. Inspired by the deeply moving story of lipsticks being distributed to liberated women at the end of World War II – for whom such a simple comfort allowed them to reclaim their humanity and sense of self – Liana and a group of like-minded people got together around a good bottle of wine and came up with the simple yet profoundly effective ideas of “Catch-up Surgeries” and “Pamper Packs”. The AmaBele Belles Dragonboat Racing Team pledged the first donation to the project on a radio interview capturing the hearts of listeners and enabling the dream to come alive. That was 2010. Project Flamingo has been changing hundreds of lives ever since.