Like most towns in South Sudan, Nasir county in Upper Nile State is in a state of excitement. It is less than one month to the much anticipated referenda vote which will see the people of South Sudan choose unity with or separation from the North.

Southerners living in the north have been returning to their places of origin since the Comprehensive Peace Agreement in 2005. In the period preceding the referendum until March 2011, the Government of South Sudan has committed to facilitating the return of 150,000 people, but many more are returning spontaneously.

Sara Nya Biel Char is one of the people who have returned on their own. She has lived in the outskirts of Khartoum for 16 years and returned only a few days ago. 'I left my village in the south in 1994 due to the war; but now I've returned. I came to register and vote in the referendum; I'm settling here now, this is my ancestral land.'

Sara is elderly. She is among 450 returnees who have settled in Nasir county. Most, like Sara, have come by boat; a trip that is not so affordable. 'We left most of our property behind. We couldn't bring the tables, chairs, and beds because the boat charges too much money for luggage'.

Bigger challenge

This trip may have been costly, tiring and even dangerous, but for Sara and her three daughters, it is one that they had to make. It took 10 days on the boat to make it to Nasir. She is happy to be re-united with her younger sister, her only family, but the bigger challenge begins now. She has to establish a new life from scratch.

'I bought three bundles of straw for my new tukul and each bundle cost 10 Sudanese pounds (about $4). I need at least two more bundles. I plan to go harvest straw in the fields since I have no money left'.

Dak Tap Chuol, Commissioner of Nasir County is confident that his county will effectively cope with the expected returnees. 'We are expecting about 1,500 returnees to settle in Nasir; most are already upstream at the city of Malakal, the Upper Nile state capital about three days by boat from Nasir. The State is facilitating their return'.

The Commissioner is however concerned that the returnees might not have enough food. 'The returnees are settling with their families, but some of them may be unable to feed the extra family members. The county is concerned and may approach relief organisations to request food assistance for some families as they integrate.'

Nasir, like most parts of South Sudan is extremely poor and lacks infrastructure. People here rely on agriculture for subsistence. 2009 was particularly difficult due to poor rains. This year, the rains came with a vengeance, leaving most parts of the county under flood waters. Only a five-kilometre radius around Nasir town is passable by road. The flood waters will not subside until February 2011.

Precarious situation

Poor development in South Sudan sets the scene for a precarious humanitarian situation. Decades of conflict have left the countryside ravaged; young men either fled or never got meaningful education. There is a general lack of skilled labour.

Health is just one of the sectors in dire need in the south. Most hospitals are in the hands of a scattering of non-governmental organisations, and they are few and far in between. In these few health centres, there are even fewer south Sudanese medical professionals. In Nasir, the Doctors Without Borders (MSF) hospital offers most of the health care services. This hospital, which is partially funded by the European Commission Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection (ECHO), is ready for any health problems in Nasir in this referendum period.

Marilena Chatziantoniou is the European Commission's expert in South Sudan. 'One of the concerns in the health sector is that the returnees have not been exposed to fatal diseases prevalent in the south that do not exist in the north; they will not know how to protect themselves. Diseases such as malaria or kala-azar fever can be fatal if not treated in time.'

This lack of exposure to these fatal diseases, coupled with the poor health infrastructure and low levels of information, means that the returnees are especially prone to succumb much faster to these diseases. Sara Nya Biel Char and her daughters are lucky. They are settling about two kilometres away from the MSF hospital. In case of a medical emergency, those returnees settling in villages further afield must first battle flood waters to reach help.

Sara is happy to be back home; back to a life that is more challenging, but a life at home nonetheless.