A day after Sudan marked the 55th anniversary of its independence from British ruling, Jalaa al-Azhari, the daughter of Sudan's first president Ismali al-Azhari, marked the event by half raising the flag. A sign of sadness at the state of the nation in the light of the looming referendum that could see Africa's largest country split in two halves.
As I entered the big former presidential building, I looked up to see the old Sudanese flag with the green, yellow and black colours raised in half. I sensed the somber atmosphere as I looked around the courtyard that had big banners with her father's pictures on the flag with the slogan: A nation that includes everyone.
As the team arrived at the house, kindergarden children started arriving to pay their respect to the first president of Sudan, seeing them diffused the sad mood, it was a moment that exhumed innocence.
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