South Sudan's President

There will have to be strong leadership to take South Sudan through the upcoming challenges.  Salva Kiir Mayardit is the first president of South Sudan although he has been moving his country to this moment since he took over in 2005 as leader of southern Sudan.  His story is complex and interesting.  This link to the BBC offers a profile. 

South Sudan and the United Nations

Happy Friday!

We'll take one more day to revel in the birth of a new nation.  This link leads to a video of South Sudan being accepted into the United Nations.  One more hopeful step.

Next week, we'll get back to the details, the tough decisions and the long road ahead  for North and South Sudan.

And, two bits of blog housekeeping:  

First, I'd like to send a huge thanks out to Sarah Martinez who has provided great links, information and work towards keeping this blog going. Sarah, you rock!  And I'd like to welcome Kimberly Woods who will be working with me on blog research from here. Yay! Welcome Kim.

Second, please send me your thoughts on what you'd like to see on the blog. Our friend Xavier said he wanted to know more about what Naomi is doing, and our friend Kim said she'd like to hear about day-to-day things like how many bones we have and what's going on in the office.  I was thinking of profiling our interns, volunteers and some of the artists that work with us. You?  What do you want to know about? This blog is a work in progress so PLEASE, let me know. 

OMB's Kickstarter meets Twitter

Hello friends,

Do you tweet?  I didn't before today, but I do now!

We're working to make OMB's Kickstarter campaign a trending topic on Twitter and if you tweet, we could really use your help.

Here are some scripts:

Pls RT: Help #onemillionbones #Kickstarter raise $ & awareness of ongoing genocides http://kck.st/ja60g9  
 
Pls RT: Donate to #onemillionbones #Kickstarter & raise $ to help fight genocide http://kck.st/ja60g9  
 
Pls RT: Check out #onemillionbones #Kickstarter & donate $ to help fight genocide http://kck.st/ja60g9 
 
Pls RT: You can help stop genocide at #onemillionbones #Kickstarter http://kck.st/ja60g9 
 
Pls RT: Help #onemillionbones fight genocide.Donate to #Kickstarter http://kck.st/ja60g9>
 
Spread the word! #onemillionbones has a #Kickstarter to help fight genocide http://kck.st/ja60g9

I hope you'll share them with the world. 

Time for Celebration in The Republic of South Sudan

There is a long road ahead for the people of the new Republic of South Sudan and the people of Sudan.  There are vexing issues that will require their respective governments to drop hardline positions to find compromise. There are many years of pain and anger and frustration that have to be overcome.  But this past Saturday was a remarkable step for people for whom peace and security has been so long denied.

These links are to a video and a photo slideshow from the celebration.  Let's share this moment with the Sudanese people, Northern and Southern, and then let's get back to our work of keeping awareness focused on the situation, so they can continue with their work of building two nations co-exisitng peacefully. 

This is an excerpt of the new Republic of South Sudan's National Anthem and a link to the full lyrics and a file where you can hear the song.

"Land of great abundance

 Uphold us united in peace and harmony

Oh motherland!

We rise raising flag with the guiding star

And sing songs of freedom with joy

For justice, liberty and prosperity

Shall forevermore reign"

Have you found images or videos that you think we should share?  Please send them to me and I'll post them throughout the month.

South Sudan’s Independence -- Action Items

Tomorrow is the birth of a new nation, The Republic of South Sudan.  The people of south Sudan have come so far to get here, but there is still a long journey in front of them.

Here are some things you can do from wherever you are:

This is a petition sponsored by Avaaz calling for action from the international community to end aggression against the people of Nuba.  Here’s what they say:

“To the UN Security Council member countries: We call on you to take decisive action to stop the brutal ethnic cleansing ongoing in Sudan, including making all efforts to arrest President al-Bashir and others indicted by the International Criminal Court, imposing robust sanctions on those responsible for mass killings, and fulfilling your responsibility to protect the people of Sudan. For too long the world has watched al-Bashir commit grave crimes against humanity, and offered only words of condemnation. It is time for action.”

This link takes you to Sudan Action Now’s facebook page where you can get a status update blurb that they are asking people to post for the weekend. 

Educate yourself about the situation, and tell people.  This link is to a good summary of the situation, also from Sudan Action Now.  The Enough Project has good information on their blog as well.  If you have an OMB t-shirt wear it tomorrow.  Raise awareness of the issue wherever you go.

Sudan Action Now is also tracking gatherings focused on Sudan, that are happening in July around the country.  You can find one near you here.

And plan on attending the One Million Bones 4^th Sunday event for Sudan.  It’s July 24^th at our office in Albuquerque. We start at 2pm and always have delicious treats.

This is an historic event and we have the opportunity to tell our leaders that we expect them to support the positive efforts of the new nation and of North Sudan to bring peace, security and justice to the people of these nations.  Keep the pressure on.  Tell your representatives, friends and family.  Let’s show that we can make a positive impact through our actions.