* Any views expressed in this opinion piece are those of the author and not of Thomson Reuters Foundation.
Today I waited in a line for five hours. I’ve never waited in line for that long – ever! But this was different. I decided to spend the morning with friend and colleague, Pasquale Ongwen (38) as he joined millions of others in Sudan to vote in the referendum on self-determination. The voting period ends on Saturday, but today, day one, is the day when many went to the polls.
I arrived at Pasquale’s home in a sprawling residential suburb of Juba, at 8am this morning and was greeted by Pasquale’s father Alexander Oyet (78), a lively retired primary school teacher, who explained why this day had so much significance for him – he was looking to the future, “I hope that my grandchildren will have a bright and better future. I have waited more than fifty years for this day,” he explained.
Pasquale and his wife Margaret (32) have six children, five boys and one girl aged from one to 12 years old.
As we left to go to the polling station, Pasquale told me that he was feeling very excited to cast his vote.
When we arrived at the school that is serving as a polling station this week, there were already very long queues. “People have decided to come out early and on the first day,” explained Pasquale. Some people had arrived as early as 2am. The voter registration cards that each person needed to show when they entered the polling station had numbers on them which determined which queue you went in. There were three queues entering three different buildings on the school compound. At this point Alexander went in one queue, Margaret in another and Pasquale and I in a third. We didn’t see them until later in the day.
As more people started to arrive there was definitely a sense of anticipation and excitement in the air. Some people brought chairs, others sat on large rocks. The odd transistor radio could be heard from time to time. When a popular referendum song started playing, voters, young and old, started singing and swaying from side to side to the Reggae beat, “we are all in one boat. We are moving ahead even if it’s shaking a bit we are still moving ahead,” went the lyrics. Most people were dressed in their Sunday best and planned to go to church after voting. After a few hours the church in the school compound started its service. It wasn’t long before the lively music bellowed out of the open doors and windows and almost on cue some of the women in the line sang along to a well known African hymn. When the chorus came more people started to sing along, “Hallelujah Africa! Hallelujah Africa!”
Three hours in, I asked Pasquale whether he was tired of waiting in line for so long, “Waiting for a few hours is worth it, Sophia,” he told me, “We’ve been waiting for almost six years, this is the last step. One has to at least wait, it’s not a problem at all,” he continued. This was the sentiment of his fellow voters. Pasquale was referring to the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Accord in 2005 which officially ended the war between the North and the South and paved the way to this historic day.
After five hours of waiting, the moment finally came. With my camera at the ready, I started taking pictures of Pasquale casting his ballot. When he left the polling station, holding up his inky left index finger as proof that he had voted, he said, “I’m feeling very relieved. It’s like what Dr John Garang said. It’s the final walk to freedom to cast the vote and I’ve made my decision in a secret ballot.”
By the time we left the polling station to take the short walk to his home, the sun was high in the sky and it was very hot. I thought about all those people still waiting in line in the scorching heat, but not minding because this was a day that most of them had been waiting for most, if not all, of their lives. After a short silence I could tell that Pasquale had been thinking. He then said, “You know Sophia, no one was expecting that this referendum was going to take place on time. But it did. It has been a huge achievement.”
Back home Alexander was relaxing in the shade with a soda. The children were playing in the compound with toys they had made from empty plastic containers. As I sat in the shade to join him, Alexander said, raising his left index finger, “At last I have done it and I am very happy! Let us wait now and see!” Margaret echoed him, “I feel very happy too. I’ve casted my vote. I’m hoping that my children will have a chance to a better education,” she said.
As we said our goodbyes I felt privileged to have waited in line with Pasquale and capture the moment he contributed to the making of history.
Voting continues this week. Preliminary results from the referendum centers will be declared as early as 15th January, with the final results expected on 14th February.
