The Sudanese Referendum

Beginning today and lasting for the next seven days, the people of southern Sudan cast their historic ballots to become "the world's newest nation."

After years of civil war and what many deem to be genocide in the Darfur region of Sudan, these war-affected people now have the chance to vote for independence and freedom from the oppressive northern Sudanese regime.

the no-man's land between Northern Uganda and Southern Sudan.

Will this vote achieve peace for the people of the oil-rich south?  Or, the more likely outcome, will the northern government fight to keep control over their southern countrymen?

Only time will tell what the result will be.

The world needs to keep its eyes on East Africa right now.  The potential for violence and bloodshed is extremely high, and if it occurs, we cannot allow it to go unnoticed.

Perhaps travel cannot prevent bigotry, but by demonstrating that all peoples cry, laugh, eat, worry, and die, it can introduce the idea that if we try and understand each other, we might even become friends.