By Lorraine Genia – EM TV Sports, Port Moresby
It has almost been a week since the successful staging of the 2016 Black Orchid Tournament, with a number of positive reflections sincemade on the message of peace brought into Arawa, using the code of rugby union.
The man in charge of using rugby as a peacekeeping tool, Peter Tsiamalili Jnr. successfully brought the entire country into Arawa for a weekend of festivities.
Moving forward, the AROB Rugby Football Union will continue to drive the message of peace, through the expansion of the game to South Bougainville in the near future.
Teams and representations gathered from the Highlands to the Islands to partake in the weekend’s festivities, in the quiet, scorched and once desolate town of Arawa.
While the tournament was the biggest sevens tournament of its kind in the country, the end result was far greater than just the successful staging of the event.
Tsiamalili Jnr, a firm believer of rugby’s ability to drive peace, has and will continue to use rugby as a rehabilitation tool for communities throughout Bougainville.
But the prospect of taking rugby into other communities does not just end in Arawa.
Moving forward the union has plans to take the Black Orchid concept into South Bougainville – a move that will complement the desired outcome of instilling peace and harmony throughout the entire island.
