Tag Archives: South Sudan independence

South Sudan: Countdown to independence [video]

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South Sudan: Countdown to Independence | World Vision Blog
You can almost feel the excitement in Juba from half a world way here in our office in the United States.  As I talk to our staff from South Sudan’s capital city nearly every day, I hear it in their voice and the stories they tell me.  The city is on edge, eager for tomorrow’s independence ceremony, colorful banners hang in the streets and people wear t-shirts emblazoned with the new country’s flag. As the world watches and waits, I’ll be watching and waiting too, praying for a safe transition and peace for the children of South Sudan. South Sudan will become the world’s newest country tomorrow, July 9. As the South Sudanese prepare for their grand celebration, children are...
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A new hope through independence

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Southern Sudan preliminary results announcement celebration in Juba, South Sudan on January 30, 2011. ©2011 Abraham Nhial/World Vision
It’s a long journey from the backyard barbecues and fireworks of our own Fourth of July festivities to the Republic of South Sudan, a new country that will be born in just days from today on July 9. I’m willing to bet, though, that our traditional summer celebration will seem downright routine compared to the life-changing nature of South Sudan’s first birthday. At first glance, it may seem as though future citizens of South Sudan don’t have much to be grateful for or much to celebrate. They will be receiving the poorest corner of one of the poorest countries on earth — a place beset by hunger, disease, and war. According to a 2007 government study (pdf), mothers in Southern...
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The hope beyond what I saw in Sudan

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At a health clinic in Sudan, Heawa with her young sister Maka wait to be attended to. ©2010 Collins Kaumba/World Vision
Editor’s note: Three weeks ago, we asked Collins, a World Vision communicator in Zambia, to write about his recent experience in Sudan, supporting World Vision’s office there. His reply: “My experience in Sudan makes me feel as though I should write a book, because it is something I have never experienced in my life before. You have really asked for the blog at the right time.” As South Sudan prepares to celebrate its independence as Africa’s newest country on July 9, we continue to to offer assistance to this conflict-weary region. Indelible memories of the suffering I saw in Darfur have followed me since the day I left Sudan for Zambia. My mind and heart are still attached to the...
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South Sudan: Can independence bring a brighter future?

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Southern Sudan preliminary results announcement celebration in Juba, South Sudan on January 30, 2011. ©2011 Abraham Nhial/World Vision
Editor’s note: South Sudan, a region left devastated by decades of civil war, held a referendum last January in which voters decided to split from the northern part of the country and become an independent state. Preparations are in full swing for festivities to mark the upcoming independence of South Sudan. The mood is upbeat. On July 9, some 30 heads of state will travel to Juba, the acting capital city, to witness the birth of this new country. The history behind this event The region’s path to independence was preceded by 21 years of conflict between rebels in the South and the government based out of Khartoum, Sudan’s capital city in the North. This created a massive humanitarian crisis,...
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