South Sudan was on our mind five years ago when we met during the filming of the movie War Child. At that time, we both thought there was little chance the government of Sudan in Khartoum would allow a peaceful and fair referendum to determine the fate of southern Sudan.
Happily, we were both wrong.
In January, Emmanuel and millions of southern Sudanese voted for independence, and on July 9 the Republic of South Sudan will become the world's newest internationally recognized country.
But southern Sudan is not out of the woods yet. The main reason the referendum was successful was that the world shined a bright light on the situation, and made it hard for the spoilers to ruin the moment. In order to prevent an escalation of violence in the two months left before independence, we are going to have to keep the focus on the situation there.
Join the tour of schools and universities that Emmanuel is doing beginning fall 2011 to promote peace in Sudan and in support of other critical issues through the power of music. Now is your chance to make some noise for peace!
Find out what you can do to make a difference and help bring peace to Sudan. As Emmanuel's video proclaims, We Want Peace in Sudan! Your voice is instrumental in making this wish of all Sudanese a reality.
Emmanuel Jal, a former child soldier, is a South Sudanese musician, activist and the founder of Gua Africa. John Prendergast is co-founder of the Enough Project and author of Unlikely Brothers.