(GIN) – In an historic referendum, Southern Sudanese are voting in large numbers for self-rule and an end to years of north-south struggle with its roots in British imperialism which played north against south, setting up a capital in Khartoum with Muslim leaders.

South Sudan, trapped in extreme poverty, is also hoping to win control of the oil within its borders that had been pumped and exported by those in the north.

Taking part in the poll that started Monday were the so-called "Lost Boys" -- former child soldiers who fled the two-decades-long civil war with the north, and in many cases, wound up in the U.S.

"We are supporting the referendum for our freedom," said Valentino Achak Deng, whose dramatic tale of survival as a child soldier in the war-torn south was written up by author Dave Eggers in the best-selling book "What is the What".

As a boy, Deng trekked across the vast swamps and grasslands of the south to Ethiopia, as his friends were shot around him or died from wild animal attacks or starvation. After years in a Kenyan refugee camp, he was granted asylum in the U.S. in 2001.

The "Lost Boys" and "Lost Girls" settled in such U.S. cities as Clarkston, George; Nashville and Boston; Chicago; Dallas; Omaha, Nebraska; Houston, Phoenix; Seattle and Washington.

"The referendum means everything to us," said Kur Ayuen, a 32 year old south Sudanese-Australian who, like Deng, fled the war as a child and grew up in tough refugee camps in Kenya. Ayuen runs My Referendum for Freedom, a group working to boost education and awareness about the vote by organizing street marches and concerts.

"My children are still at school in Uganda, where I grew up during the war, but when the south is free, I will bring them back too," said Mary Nailo, a fruit trader.

More than 60,000 people have registered to vote in eight nations -- neighboring Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda, as well as in Australia, Britain, Canada and the U.S. "This is a great moment in our history," said Lopez Lomong, who fled the south as a child when his village was destroyed, but who is now a track and field athlete in the United States.

Lomong carried the US flag in the opening ceremonies at the Olympic Games in Beijing and as a member of Team Darfur, has spoken often about the crisis there.