“TRUKAI has truly blessed me and my family by giving us a chance to own a home. This is a life-changing moment for us, and we will forever be grateful,” said Iamo Rigana Southern Region winner for the Roots Rice Win Your Own Home Promotion.
The 32-year-old from Wanigela Village in Central Province said winning a brand-new home is a blessing for him and his family.
Still in shock over the news of being the winner of “Roots Win Your Own Home Promotion” for Southern Region, Rigana admitted that he initially dismissed it when his relatives first informed him.
“I thought they were joking because they told me they saw my name on Facebook as one of the winners of the promotion,” he said.
Given the rise of misinformation on social media, he was skeptical. “Having heard a lot of stories about fake news, I thought this was a scam until I went on Facebook myself and realized that it was indeed true,” said Rigana.
The moment of realization was overwhelming for him and his disbelief quickly turned into gratitude, as what once seemed impossible, became his reality.
A contract worker, Rigana started purchasing Roots Rice after seeing the Roots Win Your Own Home promotion in the newspaper.
“The details in the paper mentioned that there were only a few entry tickets in selected bags, so I decided to give it a try,” he said.
His first entry was at Koki in Port Moresby. “When I bought a 10kg bag of Roots Rice at Koki, the first thing I did was check for the ticket, and sure enough, I found one,” he recalled.
His second entry came when he purchased another bag of Roots Rice at Eliseo, Boroko, where he discovered yet another ticket.
“I love Roots Rice and I always buy it when I have the chance. So when I bought the rice and saw the entry ticket, I was overjoyed. I thought to myself, ‘I am on the path to winning’,” said Rigana.
After securing the second ticket, Rigana felt that luck was on his side. He and his wife turned to faith, praying that their dream of owning a home would come true.
“My wife and I really wanted this house, so we prayed about it. And yes, through faith, we won the kit home.”
Rigana is one of the four lucky winners from each region to receive a three-bedroom Bumbu Range Kit Home valued over K132, 000. The other winners include Madila John from Wau-Waria, Morobe (Momase region), Ukut Inako from Kainantu, Eastern Highlands Province (Highlands region), and Pauline Simahun from Lorengau, Manus (New Guinea Islands region).
The Roots Rice Win Your Own Promotion ran from October 7, 2024 to February 28, 2025 where consumers had to look out for a lucky entry ticket to participate in the promotion.
The four draws for this promotion were conducted on Thursday March 27, simultaneously in Kokopo, Mt Hagen, Lae and Port Moresby.