In the echo of his footsteps,
a great man departs,
etched in the tapestry
of our shared past and present.
Life, that fleeting whisper,
holds moments of joy,
and shadows of grief,
a dance of laughter and sorrow,
where Henry Odwar thrived.
Born in Eastern Equatoria,
in the heart of 1956,
he journeyed through storms
to Kitchener’s embrace,
where on June 24, 2025,
he left this world
yet never left our hearts.
Boundless, like the skies, life grants us peace—
and sometimes, its counterpoint.
An intellect forged in struggle,
From Makerere’s halls to Manitoba’s freeze,
he emerged, a geologist
in 1982, and a master in Geophysics
of the earth from Manitoba in ’93.
His touch reached far:
to his native South Sudan,
to the soil of Canada,
yet his embrace was global.
In the parliament’s corridors,
he championed the voice of the silenced,
a beacon for the forgotten,
for his people, a relentless advocate.
When darkness cloaked the land,
he rose against the tide,
a child, a father,
never forgetting his roots.
A humble soul, simple yet profound,
a warrior of peace,
battling for a brighter morrow.
O Lord, when shall true peace bloom
in South Sudan’s weary heart?
Each day, children fall like leaves,
the elderly sigh with lost hope,
and we—bearing the weight of generations,
offer our souls for freedom’s price,
woven into the fabric of our being.
From ancestors’ whispers
to generations yet unseen,
never shall we surrender—for victory calls.
Henry Odwar, though gone,
his legacy stands tall,
a fountain of wisdom,
a testament to humanity,
a cry for hope,
for peace eternal.
In the shadow of loss, our hearts ache,
A cacophony of sorrow and yearning,
Yet we hold on,
To the promise of a tomorrow,
When tears will no longer stain the cheeks
Of South Sudan,
As the sun rises anew.
Voices of widows rise like whispers in the wind,
The laughter of orphans blooms in the dawn,
And the hungry,
Men and women,
Will feast on the fruits of freedom,
Our pain, a heavy cloak,
Will transform into wings.
Oh, children of the South,
Together we will cast aside the chains of division—
Tribalism and nepotism,
Blinding our vision,
Shall be but distant memories,
As our identities meld into one,
The South, our only home.
Otuho, Toposa, Bari,
Dinka, Nuer, Luo, Chollo, Zande,
Together we rise,
Unified in the spirit of nation-building,
With hands intertwined,
We shall forge a brighter future,
In the name of South Sudan,
We will not just survive,
We will thrive.
As we honor the late Honorable Henry Dilah Odwar,
His spirit guides us,
In this collective heartbeat,
Forever in our hearts,
The flame of hope will burn
As we march forward,
Together, unbroken.
The author is a South Sudanese researcher and political activist based in Australia. He holds a Master’s Degree in International Relations, a Postgraduate Certificate in Creative Writing from Deakin University, and a PhD on refugees’ migration and settlement policies, Monash University, Australia.