Editor's note: On April 13, 2010 Awolich published "In Anticipation of More," his optimistic essay on the impending Comprehensive Peace Agreement. Read that essay here .

On January 30, 2011 hundreds of Southern Sudanese, diplomats, and government officials started gathering at 7:00 in the morning at the John Garang Mausoleum. They convened to hear the announcement of the preliminary results of the Southern Sudanese independence referendum, which took place January 9 through January 15. Although the outcome was already known to be an overwhelming vote for separation from the rest of Sudan, the formal acknowledgement of the result was an important milestone—the citizens in Juba flocked to the mausoleum in large numbers to hear the confirmation of what they had long expected.

The announcement was made in two parts: the first was the results from the 10 states that make up Southern Sudan (also known as South Sudan), called out state-by-state by Justice Chan Reech Madut, the Deputy Chairman of the Southern Sudan Referendum Commission. As he read aloud the states in alphabetical order, he was met with applause whenever he declared the percentage of people who voted for secession. The total number of people who voted for unity stood at 16,000 while those who voted for independence were over three million. The crowd jumped to give themselves a standing ovation, with many in the crowd breaking into celebrations and shouting “South Sudan Oyee!”1 Justice Chan appealed to the crowd to calm down, since the announcement process was not complete. The interruption went on for about seven minutes, however, before the crowd finally queited down enough for the proceedings to continue.

After many people returned to their seats, they were reminded that Professor Khalil, the Chairman of the Southern Sudan Referendum Commission, still needed to announce the results of votes cast from Northern Sudan and from outside the country. Only Southerners who lived in the north and outside Sudan were allowed to vote on the referendum. Dr. Khalil announced the results of these votes too—an overwhelming majority of which were for independence.2 In the end, he concluded by saying that the results of the referendum are decisively for separation; he was given another huge round of applause.

Southern Sudan Vice President Dr. Riek Machar then spoke briefly before introducing the President of Southern Sudan, Salva Kiir Mayardit. The president was very emotional when he spoke about the sacrifices and the struggles our people had to endure to arrive to this day. He reminded the citizens that Southern Sudan will not be independent until the C.P.A. (Comprehensive Peace Agreement with Khartoum) expires on July 9, 2011. As such, the flag of the Republic of Sudan and those things that represent the government in Khartoum should be respected. He finished by urging the citizens to be ready to continue the struggle not with guns, but with development.

As soon as the president was finished (and I believe not many people were listening because everyone was anxious to celebrate) the crowd ran into the middle of the square and began singing. I was caught in the middle of the frenzy as I was recording the events with other journalists. My colleague, Peter Clavelle, and I joined the crowd in celebration.

A New Dawn for Sudan … and for Me

To be honest, that day was different from any other day in my life. It was the day that I became a proud citizen of Sudan for the first time. My heart has already started to forgive those who denied me the chance to grow up with my family. Many people were shedding tears of joy and excitement as they celebrated in the square. The children’s choir sang that all they want is liberty and peace and development for Southern Sudan. The children challenged the leaders to give them the chance to go to school, that’s all they could ask.

That day was similar to January 9, 2011, the day I voted for independence. On the nearly eleven-hour drive from Burlington, Vermont to Alexandria, Virginia and Washington D.C., I prayed to God and said: “God, do not let me die before I vote, for this vote is bigger than life itself.” Of course I did not want to die after I voted, but at the time I could care less about anything else. When I was given the ballot, I looked at it carefully for about a minute before I put my thumbprint in the secession square box. After I voted my heart was pumping really fast and I thought to myself, I must have voted incorrectly. So I checked my ballot once more before I put it in the ballot box—I confirmed the vote for my brother who was killed during the war, and for my friends who perished for the just cause of independence. After I placed my ballot in the box, I felt like I had grown an inch taller and I was walking majestically—proudly. I prayed to God once again and said: “God let me live to see the Independence Day and to live in a new, free country and to have children that would enjoy this freedom.”

On the day the vote tally was announced, it hit me again. First of all, I was not supposed to be here in Sudan to celebrate with my people, but I prayed to be here when the results were announced. Somehow one of the consulting firms I work with decided to give me a short-term contract to do work for them in Juba (what will be the capital of Southern Sudan) for one month. The timing could not be any better, and I am eternally grateful to Tetra Tech ARD for this once in a lifetime opportunity.

After dancing with the crowd for a good thirty minutes (the sun was beating down hard) Peter and I decided to go around the square where different ethnic groups where dancing. I went to an Acholi dance and took some pictures and video, then I went to an Anyuak dance and did the same thing. I went to a Dinka Atuot dance, then finally to a Nuer dance. While I was going around to these different dances, I could not help but notice that these beautiful, diverse cultures of Southern Sudan represent our opportunity to build a pluralistic, diverse society that cherishes the values of each culture. But this diversity is also the weak link in building a new nation; if not managed properly, it might lead to ethnic rivalry for power, leading to chaos and to the failure of the new state.

I have deep faith in our people that these challenges will be overcome, and that we are ready to set a new precedent in Africa that has never before been witnessed. Democratic values are inherent in our society, and our experience with the north should be our guiding bible to building a society that tolerates no marginalization or oppression, and that gives equal value to all its citizens regardless of their race, gender, ethnicity, religion, and other social affiliations.

After the celebrations, I returned to my room and reflected on what had just happened; I realized that a new dawn has come upon us. In this picture I see my responsibility becoming increasingly heavy. For the last fifty years, we have been blaming all our evils on bad policies on Khartoum. Now, Khartoum will be out of this picture. I see myself standing alone where any failure will not be displaced, but will be owned by me. The sunrise will lead me to freedom, but its light may also expose my failures that have thus far been concealed by the shadow of evils originating from Khartoum.

Afraid of such exposure, I have no choice but to man-up and proudly own my failures while I cry for help to correct my deficiencies. Programs like Sudan Development Foundation (SUDEF)3 with support from our American friends will be central to the rebuilding and reconstruction efforts in Southern Sudan. Our message to our friends and allies is that a new dawn has come and your involvement will be more important now than never before. A new baby will be born in Africa with birth defects from many years of abuse, and so an intervention will be needed to nourish and keep the baby healthy. We can only fail if our friends become ambivalent and indifferent to our cause.

February 8, 2011

frontispiece: Southern Sudanese in line to vote. Photo by Angela Stephens/USAID

1. The proposed national anthem for Southern Sudan. Read the lyrics here.

2. In the North, 57.65% of voters chose secession while 42.35% chose unity. Outside the country, the votes for secession were staggering: Australia: 98.81%; Canada: 98.96; Egypt: 97.68; Ethiopia: 99.64; Kenya: 99.72; Uganda: 96.1; UK: 97.97; USA: 99.12.

3. Learn more about SUDEF here: http://www.sudef.org/.