Sudan: What's going on and why we should care.

Right now in Sudan, the people are voting. They are debating whether to separate into two parts, the aboriginals and the immigrants, or if to stay together. The people in southern Sudan , the originals, found oil on their land but the people in the north, the immigrants, wanted the oil. This vote took place because the people in the south decided that they had had enough. They didn't want to be pushed around by the immigrants, this was their land and they decided that they should have it. So Sudan voted.

How did the vote take place?

The voting began very early or at least people lined up early. There was definite excitement in the air but there was also a cloud of insecurity or fear. Because the many of the southern Sudanese can not read, these symbols were written on small pieces of paper and the people circled which one they wanted. The people went behind a small curtain, quickly circled which one they wanted and then dropped it into a box and left.

If you could finally decide you future for the first time, wouldn't you be excited? But what if, there was someone stronger than you who could just pluck that away because they don't want you to have it? Wouldn't you be scared to say what you wanted? Well that is exactly what happened to these poor Sudanese of the south. They were afraid of the power the immigrants have. They were afraid that if they won, then they would go to war, or even worse. Many people said that they were afraid at first but then realized that what else could they possibly take from them. One lady said to George Clooney that she didn't care if she died because she knew it meant that they had won.

Why on earth should we care?

Well how would you like it if you voted and then your vote didn't matter because it was taken away from you? Wouldn't you want to fight? Sudan is being kept on war watch because people are afraid that if the originals get more votes, that the immigrants will start war against them. We could help them by knowing. Knowing that they are there and helping them. We can't vote but we can definitely keep close tabs on what is going on. It would help them just to know that some people are looking out for them. The UN has sent peace keepers but a few of them were killed. We could help them by informing people. It's not like aids where you can raise money for the disease. It's not like we can vote. All we can do is inform people and the only way to inform people is to get the word out. We can make posters, we can watch the news, we can tell our friends and family when we see them. It is up to us to help them, because we would want some one to do the same for us.