Welcome to the World, #193!

Yesterday was an incredible day, the kind of day that should just be filed in the dictionary under "joy." Luckily, rules don't appear to apply on July 9th, so we got to take lots of pictures of the celebration!

Walking to the main celebration at the John Garang Mausoleum:

Walking to the mausoleum where the celebration was set to take place, it was clear the party had already begun (or not ended from the night before)! Trucks and motorbikes loaded with an impossible number of people drove up and down the street honking, pedestrians yelled and sang, and some of the soldiers even put down their AKs to hand out the new nation's flag.





The Main Event:

The atmosphere here was electric! Everyone was singing, dancing, running in circles, congratulating strangers... It didn't matter that no one could hear the speakers. It just mattered that everyone was celebrating together!










The after-party in our tukul:

We ended the night with a fun party in our compound for our neighbor NGOs. It really felt like an Independence Day!




It is an absolute joy and honor to share in the victory of a struggle that is not ours. We are proud of our friends, colleagues, and neighbors and celebrate with them as begin this new stage. Welcome to the world, #193! Our hearts and prayers are with you.

-Stephanie