The most popular words of the day Saturday for members of the Pittsburgh region's Southern Sudanese community were "joy" and "dream come true."

They were celebrating their native country's official independence from north Sudan with speeches, music, traditional food, and the flying of their homeland's new flag and the playing of its new national anthem.

But the next most commonly heard word during a celebration that began at the Whitehall Presbyterian Church and was expected to go late into the night at a south suburban dining hall was "painful."

Benedict Killang, a leader in the Sudanese community here, told the more than 200 people who filled the church -- both Sudanese immigrants and their friends and supporters -- that Saturday was "this painful day for us."

Deng Kur, 29, a former Lost Boy of the Sudan who was separated from his family when he was 5, felt it, too, saying in an interview: "It's very painful for us to accept this day."

All of the 80 or so Sudanese in attendance (nearly all from the south, with a few from the Darfur region) understood them all too well.

In the 20 years of civil war that preceded the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement, which led to Saturday's Independence Day, more than 2 million Sudanese were killed.

Every Sudanese immigrant at the celebration here had lost someone: friends, children, parents, siblings, uncles, aunts or grandparents.

So, despite the beautiful and brightly colored flowing native dresses worn by the women, and the fine suits worn by the men, and the smiles of celebration they all sported at the gathering, the day itself was also a reminder of the losses it had taken to get here and join the local community, which numbers about 500.

"Today shows the sacrifices of our people were never in vain," said Mr. Killang, 41, of Castle Shannon, who has lived here nine years but was originally from Juba, the city in Southern Sudan that will now be its new capital.

Ann Talarek, who helped settle about 75 Sudanese immigrants here when she worked for Catholic Charities from 1998 to 2004, said Saturday was an emotional but joyous day for her and the other volunteers and social aid workers who came to the celebration.

"I've never seen the entire Sudanese community as happy as they were today," she said. "It was really a great day."

The local celebration echoed the one in Juba, where the world officially welcomed the new country of South Sudan into the fold on Saturday, promising support to the war-torn nation even while warning of perils ahead. Tens of thousands of South Sudanese gathered to witness the independence day ceremonies and celebrate the newly born state, chanting "We will never surrender" and "South Sudan oyee" in glee.

"For South Sudan, independence is not a gift you were given. Independence is a prize you have won," said Susan Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, who headed the U.S. delegation to the ceremonies.

As the national flag of Sudan was lowered, and South Sudan's own green-, red- and black-striped flag was slowly raised atop a 100-foot pole, the crowd erupted in rapturous cheers.

"We have waited for 56 years for this day. It is a dream that has come true," the nation's leader, President Salva Kiir, said in a speech.

Besides the United States, representatives from East Africa, China, Europe, the United Nations and the Arab League also spoke.

Sudanese President Omar al Bashir, whose nation shrinks roughly a third after the loss of South Sudan, attended as a special guest of honor and speaker, despite poor relations with Mr. Kiir and an international arrest warrant issued against him on genocide charges in Darfur. The fugitive Sudanese leader's presence created an uncomfortable situation for Western delegates, who insisted on seating arrangements to keep them from even having to pass in front of the shunned leader.

In Whitehall, meanwhile, the celebration also had its guests.

Answering the Sudanese community's hope that the American government doesn't forget their country now that they have independence, some of the local dignitaries they invited said they wouldn't.

State Rep. Chelsa Wagner, D-Beechview, said she realizes that Southern Sudan still needs much help not only ensuring that the north truly stops fighting, but that the south also gets the help it needs to develop its infrastructure, its education and its own economy.

"We must continue to fight," she told the audience, generating applause from the crowd.

U.S. Rep. Tim Murphy, R-Upper St. Clair, agreed.

"Despite the horrors and trials you faced, you became one country," he told the audience. "But let's all remember that the work is not done."

He said afterward in an interview that Congress does continue to watch the situation in Sudan.

"We're keenly aware," he said. "Just a few days ago, Sudan's army [from the north] was massing at the border. But now that we'll have an embassy there in the south, we'll have closer eyes on the situation."

Still, with all the hope now focused on the future, for the Sudanese -- nearly all of them already American citizens -- their collective history was never far from anyone's mind Saturday.

Lily Kenyi, 44, left Sudan 16 years ago with her five children when Juba was attacked, and after she had already lost an uncle and two sisters.

"I lost a lot of my own people," Ms. Kenyi, dressed in a flowing pink native dress with bright blue and green circles, said matter-of-factly.

But on this day of celebration, she rose before the audience at the church and told them she wanted to sing a song in her native language, Bari, that she -- and many of the Sudanese -- remembered from her childhood.

It was a song of celebration created in honor of the South Sudanese leader Joseph Lago in 1972 after he reached a peace accord -- later broken -- by the north.

"He was a strong and good leader, and now we are trying to find strong leaders like him again," she explained.