SUDAN – The Great Referendum

“These post-referendum issues will become post-independence issues,”

Barnaba Marial Benjamin

My First VoteA Southern Sudanese voter casts her ballot at a local polling station on the outskirts of Juba on January 09, 2011 on the first day of a week-long independence referendum expected to lead to the partition of Africa's largest nation and the creation of the world's 193rd UN member state.

Up-Up The National FlagA group of south Sudanese people, who just arrived from Kampala, Uganda, in the bordertown of Nimule celebrate on January 9, 2011 the start of a historic referendum in Sudan. The deputy head of the South Sudan Referendum Commission, Chan Reec, hailed what he described as an unprecedented turnout in the first hours of the independence vote today

Time to Run towards DestinationA handout picture released by the United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) on January 3, 2011 shows a UN helicopter airlifting voting materials to Tali in the central equatorial state on January 2, 2010, a week before balloting begins in Southern Sudan's long-awaited referendum on independence.

Future Written on the WallA Sudanese supporter of secession pastes posters upon the arrival of Sudan's President Omar al-Beshir at Juba airport on January 4, 2010. Beshir said in a speech in the southern capital that he would celebrate the result of this week's referendum "even if you choose secession." (YASUYOSHI CHIBA/AFP/Getty Images)

New DestinationsIn this photo taken Sunday, Jan. 9, 2011 men pass time at the port in Juba, southern Sudan. The barge in front of them contains the possessions of southern Sudanese who have recently returned to their home from the north. Thousands of people began casting ballots Sunday during a weeklong vote to choose the destiny of this war-ravaged and desperately poor but oil-rich region. The mainly Christian south is widely expected to secede from the mainly Muslim north, splitting Africa's largest country in two. (AP Photo/Pete Muller)

Windows of FreedomSouthern Sudanese sisters sits in a bus as they arrive in Bentiu after a three-day drive from Khartoum on January 9, 2011, on the first day of a week-long independence referendum expected to lead to the partition of Africa's largest nation and the creation of the world's 193rd UN member state. Tens of thousands of families are traveling back from the north as many believe the referendum for independence will split Africa s largest country in two. (YASUYOSHI CHIBA/AFP/Getty Images)

Confident CalmnessSalva Kiir Mayardit, acting President of the Government of Southern Sudan, leaves a stadium after casting his vote during the first day of voting for the independence referendum in the southern Sudanese city of Juba January 9, 2011 in Juba, Sudan. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

Every Step CountsA mother and her daughter walk to a polling station during the second day of voting for the independence referendum January 10, 2011 in Juba, Sudan. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

Look My Child That’s Ray of HopeA Southern Sudanese man waits with his baby in a bus bound for south Sudan in al-Analdus area in the outskirts of the capital of Khartoum on January 6, 2011, days before a referendum on independence for south Sudan. (KHALED DESOUKI/AFP/Getty Images)

Bye A Southern Sudanese family waves to relatives from a train to Baher Al Gazal State in South Sudan, in Khartoum January 9, 2011. Southern Sudanese are heading home to the south in such convoys, organized by humanitarian groups in the south, to ensure their vote counts in the independence referendum. (REUTERS/Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah)

Merry TimeSouth Sudanese people dance, with Kenya's capital Nairobi in the background, shortly after casting their vote during the referendum January 9, 2011. Millions of South Sudanese started voting on Sunday in a long-awaited independence referendum that is expected see their war-ravaged region emerge as a new nation. (REUTERS/Noor Khamis)

Queue to DestinySouthern Sudanese voters lean on a wall as they wait to vote at a local polling station in Juba on January 09, 2011 on the first day of a week-long independence referendum. (ROBERTO SCHMIDT/AFP/Getty Images)

Ballot Stronger Than BulletAn official shows a ballot paper to a South Sudanese man living in Kenya, at a polling station in Nairobi on January 9, 2011. (SIMON MAINA/AFP/Getty Images) #

My Vote Counts

A southern Sudanese woman from Nuer tribe shows her registration card as she waits in a line outside a polling station in Bentiu, capital of oil-producing Unity state on the border with the north, to vote on January 9, 2011. Unity state was the scene of deadly clashes between the southern army and renegade militiamen in the run-up to the referendum. (YASUYOSHI CHIBA/AFP/Getty Images)

Christ what is in your mind?Southern Sudanese women queue outside a polling station in Juba to cast their ballots on January 9, 2011. (ROBERTO SCHMIDT/AFP/Getty Images)

Colour of FreedomA woman places her finger in blue ink after voting during the independence referendum January 10, 2011 in Juba, Sudan. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

Light HouseThousands of southern Sudanese line-up to vote during the first day of voting for the independence referendum in the southern Sudanese city of Juba January 9, 2011. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

MemoriesSouthern Sudanese Grace Gogonya Wainu, holding pictures from Sudan, one depicting her brother-in-law fighter Scofes Loboro at left, who she says died in 2005, cries after she cast her vote for the Southern Sudan Referendum in a special polling station set up in central London, Sunday Jan. 9, 2011. The only referendum polling center in Europe was set up in UK, one of the eight countries outside Sudan with significant diaspora populations. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)

Symbol of IndependenceSouthern Sudanese people are seen through a Southern Sudanese flag lining up to cast their votes in Juba, Southern Sudan, Sunday, Jan. 9, 2011. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)

Prayers do helpA southern Sudanese woman participates in a day of prayer at a church before the independence referendum vote tomorrow in the southern Sudanese city of Juba January 8, 2011. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

We are ReadyHeavily armed Southern Sudanese soldiers on security detail outside a polling station in the southern Sudanese capital of Juba on Sunday, Jan. 9, 2011. (AP Photo/Pete Muller)

Witness to ChangeFormer U.S. President Jimmy Carter, his wife, Rosalynn, and former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan conclude a visit to a polling center the southern capital of Juba Sunday, Jan. 9, 2011. (AP Photo/Pete Muller)

Sealing the FutureVoting officials use cable ties to secure a ballot box at the Giyada polling center on the first day of a referendum in Nyala (South Darfur) January 9, 2011. (REUTERS/Albert Gonzalez Farran/UNAMID)

Yes we know the Result beforehandA Southern Sudanese couple dances outside a polling station in Cairo on January 9, 2011, on the first day of a week-long independence referendum. (MOHAMMED ABED/AFP/Getty Images)

Both Blood an Sweat count equallyA girl wipes her face while holding a jug of water on her head during the second day of voting for the independence referendum January 10, 2011 in Juba, Sudan. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

What has happened to my united nation?Abeer Osman, The granddaughter of former Prime Minister and President of Sudan Ismail al-Azhari stands near the residence of al-Azhari, which is partially covered by a black cloth to protest against separation in Khartoum January 10, 2011. (REUTERS/Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah)

Come lets’ enjoy!

A south Sudanese man carries his bow and arrows as he leaves the polling center after casting his ballot in the referendum in the rural village of Peiti, northwest of Juba, south Sudan January 10, 2011. (REUTERS/Thomas Mukoya)