We could
believe in an exodus. Believe that
all these people are refugees. In fact,
this is a regular line that carries passengers
on the Congo River, one of the rivers
most dangerous in the world. The captain is a stuntman. He is doing well,
he's a real fighter. There is life,
the birth. In Congo,
we help each other. where misery finds you,
this is where you will find your family. If someone slips,
it falls under the lilies and dies cut up
in small pieces. 2000 passengers
pile on top of each other for several weeks. I miss everything. I have nothing left to eat. My only provisions,
it is the water of the river. It's not okay,
I'm hungry. I'm sick of it. If it was up to me,
I would go down and I would leave. The edges
of the Congo River, fishermen *Wagagna*
risk their lives every day for a few fish. God bless this river who feeds us
and makes us live. The Congo River
is sacred. For a man to have strength, they have to fight
during the *Kbobo* ceremony. The plane costs the equivalent
six months salary. Since the road disappeared,
the Congo River has become the only line of life
to connect Kinshasa, the capital of the Congo, in Kisangani,
the third largest city in the country. A journey from another age which meanders
over 1700 kilometers in the heart of Africa. This looks like
a boat graveyard, a junkyard. And yet we are
in the port of Kinshasa, one of the most
major cities in Africa. Rice,
palm oil, spices, all goods
are transported on the back of a man, because the cranes do not work
not for a long time. Amid
this tangle of boats is the GBEMANI, a freight carrier
which also carries passengers, but without cabin. To travel, you have to be
a place on the deck of the boat. Everyone settles in as they can. The GBEMANI then takes
looks like a floating slum. On board, 800 people
who leave to find their families for a funeral,
a marriage. Others dream of fortune
and embark to try their luck in the diamond mines
at the other end of the country. But in the Congo, the scale of time
does not have the same value than anywhere else. It's been almost a month
that these travelers expect departure blocked
on the deck of the boat, under a blazing sun. Tired,
at the end of my rope, every day
they hope to finally leave, and every prosperous day, the owner of the boat
comes to tell them the bad news. Today,
he is worried, because anger growls
among passengers. Prosper doesn't know what to invent anymore
to keep passengers waiting. so he lies
again and again, for some,
the departure is tonight, for the others,
it's tomorrow morning. We've been here a long time. We thought we were going to travel tomorrow,
but so far, we haven't traveled yet. In Congo,
we don't respect customers. In developed countries,
the client is king, but with us,
the customer is poor. The Congo is plagued
by an evil that blocks and disrupt the whole country. Corruption. The GBEMANI remains at the quay, because prosperous refuses
to give a bribe to the fuel delivery man
who, coincidentally, doesn't have a single one
tank truck available since several weeks. If you have the money,
here we do it quickly and that's how, we are in Congo,
You know. It's a wind of revolt which begins to blow
on the GBEMANI. The news just came. Gasoline
won't happen today. Prosper, try to calm down
the angry crowd. Without the help
of this passenger, it could have gone wrong
for Prosper. So he resigned himself. He paid the famous bakchich
to the gasoline delivery man. He awaits his arrival
on the side of the road. in a hurry to leave, passengers take
supplies in hand. 30 cans of 200 liters
everyone unloaded. He was also waiting
this departure with impatience. His salary depends on it Captain Rene
is paid at the crossing. So he wants to drop
the moorings as soon as possible. The mechanic is not there? And like always
that he takes his command, he does not forget to thank
the first of the captains. Lord, at these times,
I take possession of this boat in the mighty name of Jesus. I wiped out all
power of the devil and Satan. I push them away
in the mighty name of jesus and I take possession
of these boats in the name of Jesus. I push back
any spirit of incident. Spirits of the dead, epidemics
in the mighty name of Jesus, Amen. The GBEMANI
will finally take off. Both motors did not run
for many months. In the port of Kinshasa,
there are no rules. The boats pile up
one behind the other in the greatest anarchy. The GBEMANI is surrounded
by a dozen ships. The GBEMANI measures
almost 100 meters. So, to help him maneuver,
sailors install large cables on each side of its flanks, and stretch them to make it turn
to the right or to the left. A maneuver
extremely dangerous for passengers
crowded on deck. The cables are so tight
that they are on the verge of breaking. Once the mooring cable has been cut,
it can amputate the legs. Above all
secure passengers. Because there are tremors. There is a violent blow there. It can rock people, and there are people
who get hurt and who even lose their lives. A month late
the GBEMANI finally rushes on the river. For passengers,
it is deliverance. As soon as you leave the port, two barges come to stand
alongside on each side of the boat. The convoy thus formed carries
now about 1700 people. GBEMANIE is changing
in a floating city. On board,
little space for passengers. The first arrivals went up
their camp in the middle of the bridge. Almost a first class. Others,
for three weeks, will have to be satisfied
to remain seated without even
be able to lie down. Worse still, some camp
only a few centimeters from the edge. After long months
unemployment, Adonis embarks
for a new life with his wife
and her six children. He found a job
as a mechanic in Kisangani, the little family
got lucky. She was able to settle
in the middle of the bridge. This is the dining room
and here the kitchen. The night,
it becomes a bedroom. Over there is my little shop,
I sell everything. She also transforms
in the bedroom. In his shop, he sells soap,
cakes, salt. A small income that allows him
to buy a valuable asset on the boat. We don't have drinking water
and we have to buy it. It costs
100 Congolese francs per litre. If we drink water from the river,
there is a risk of catching diseases. We just use it
to make our toilet, otherwise we take
risks with our health. On the GBEMANI,
there is no water or electricity. Every corner of the boat is invested
and becomes a place of life. It is almost impossible
to move on board. The biggest problem for us,
is to go to the toilet. You have to do a lot of acrobatics
to succeed. Here, for example, there are six
or seven sleeping families. Adonis' camp
is opposite the showers. All at the end of the boat. To go wash up, it's a
real obstacle course. You have to pass
under a truck. Get around
hundreds of people, strides
many objects. And above all pay attention not to overturn
boiling oil pots warming up on deck. We don't have the space
to go through there. The slightest mistake
and you fall. Look at me,
I have to walk sideways between people. Excuse me ma'am,
sorry sir. If you stumble,
you fall. If you slip
you fall too. If you bump into someone,
he also falls. Adonis finally arrives
in the shower area. Here,
it's very dangerous. Take this water,
it's a big risk. If the current is too strong,
he can aspire, is carried away. An old can as a substitute
shower head. As for the toilets,
it takes courage to enter it. In back,
it's the men's shower, and when we have finished washing, we leave room for others so they can
also groom themselves. If we want to meet our needs,
we come here. We step over the railing, we go down and we take care of ourselves. That's what we gotta do
to relieve himself. If someone slips,
he falls under the lily and dies, cut out
in small pieces. I have already seen
people falling. And they are all dead. The Congo River seems calm,
almost quiet. However, the pilot
is on the alert. The river is a siren who charms
and puts men to sleep hiding the danger from them. Because the Congo carries
many wrecks and tree trunks which can tear the hull
of the boat at any time. Rules of conduct
of a boat, it's like
that of a truck except you have to stay there in the middle of the river, because there is no markup
who points out the rocks, it's up to the captain
to guide us. No markup
and even less navigation charts to guide the pilot. Captain Rene
is the memory of the river. He's the only man on board
to know the exact location rocks and wreckage. You must know
the river in the heart of Kisangani, you must know
the 1700 kilometers, you must know
each place and its obstacles. However,
there is a map on board, but its latest update date of Belgian colonization It was 50 years ago. This is the original map, original album from Belgian times. In the 56 years,
like that. All these signals
here are beacons. They were visible
but for the moment, it does not exist anymore,
it disappeared. There's a wreck under the water
right in the middle of the river. He is placed
right in the middle of the pass. There is no
no signal there. On board the GBEMANI, there is no vest
nor lifeboat. In Congo,
It is not mandatory. Each year, several boats
sink in the waters of the river, chatting almost every time
the death of a hundred passengers. When there is a case of shipwreck, how can we save
even a minimum of people? It's almost three quarters of people
who are going to die. A tree trunk
has just hit the GBEMANI. He opened a breach
in the hull of the boat. One of the wedges
filled with water. She overflows, extra weight
which threatens the balance of the ship. An accident which, apparently,
don't worry the passengers. The hull has been found
because of a tree trunk which was floating in the water
while we were sailing. It went under the barge
and it makes holes. If the boat sinks,
We're all going to die. We are butchering
the hole with cement, where the hull
has been damaged. With cement,
we will arrive at our destination. And as soon as we arrive,
we are looking for a welder for him to fix. After two days of travel,
the village of Maluku, dozens of canoes
waiting for the boat since weeks. They are filled
new passengers and goods to be shipped. Too big,
the GBEMANI cannot dock, it just slows off. Everyone tries
to get on board as best he can. From Kinshasa, there was no more room
available on the ship and yet they are close
200 additional people who come on board. There are many
who arrive, we do not know
where to put these people who will come after
and we don't know how, we always continue
to argue. But the space
is not at all favorable for those who are there. A work
which is impossible. The boat matters now
almost 2000 passengers. The new comers
melted into the mass. Start then,
for crew members, a hunt
to stowaways. The trip costs 40 €. This represents
one month's salary in the Congo. So many
try to escape. Josiane, the ship's cashier,
is desperate. She has almost
not sold a ticket since their departure from Kinshasa. We are many,
It's a little difficult the number is about 2000 or more, there are 36 people
who have already paid for the tickets. That's all ? That's all. The ship's crates
are empty. For Prosper, the shipowner,
it is a disaster. Because there is
dishonest people, they embark like this,
they don't pay we have to
to leave them behind. We are in the process of
fight for that money. The money will allow us
to pay the crew, to pay for fuel,
to pay for the accessories, engine oils. The formalities to divert
to the destination. It's been five days
that the boat has left Kinshasa and he only traveled 400 kilometers
out of the 1700 that make up the trip. No one on board knows
when it will arrive within a week,
in fifteen days, in a month. That is why, The passengers
do not pay their ticket. You have to save money
to buy food. Every day, small traders
of the river boarding. On the menu today
garden vegetables, fruit of the forest
and fresh fish. But there are rarely
for everyone. For a few
more Congolese francs, we can even pay
monkey meat. He is however
forbidden to hunt it, the animal is protected. It's our culture,
we are here to eat this animal. It is for us. God did it for us. We're going to eat,
because it's good. For the inhabitants of the river,
the boat is a godsend. Very little
have the opportunity to go to town. So they swap
their food for piles, medication
or even clothes. To catch their fish, some
fishermen take huge risks. At the other end of the river,
the *Waghania* people brave the rapids. He uses techniques
of ancestral fishing unique in the world. They will look
with bare hands the fish that
running water stuck between the rocks. The river's anger
makes sinners dance with death. In Gilbert's family,
we are fisherman from father to son for several generations. Without the river
they wouldn't know anything. But there is a price,
a tribute to pay. In 1984,
I lost my older brother the current projected it
against a rock, his name was Cajoli. My little brother whose name was
Puma died the same way. Fishermen dived
to help him, but it was too late. The bodies of my brothers
were never found. They were taken away
by the river. It is the suffering of fishing. But we won't stop
no fishing is our life. To avoid
to dive in the rapids, too often, fishermen
made wooden traps, a fearsome fish trap
whose fishing they share at the end of the day. The water current is
very powerful. As soon as the fish enters the trap,
he dies immediately. When we go fishing we sell part
fish that we bring back and the rest,
it is to feed the family. The money from the sale,
this is for our wives and children to pay for school. A dozen families live
in this small village without electricity. Gilbert is proud
to introduce us to his little tribe. With my first wife,
we had six children. I married him in 1982. I am married
with the second wife in 1986 and we had three children. And with the third wife? I got married in 1988
and we had four children. The 17 clan members live
in this house which is falling apart. On the inside,
hardly any furniture, apart from a bench
and a chair. For me,
my wife and children it's like having
a big diamond at home. Our ancestors
have always done it that way. If you only have one wife,
you will feel bad. It's necessary
you add a second one, then a third
to finally feel better. To give back
tribute to the river. The best wrestlers
will clash. They practice the *K bobo*, a sport of strength that the ancients
transmit to the youngest to teach them
better fight the river. The *kbobo* will give him strength. He can get away with it
facing the water current. Without this strength
he won't be able to do anything. This is why we teach
the fight *K bobo* to our children. The GBEMANI and its captain also fight against the current. After seven days
navigation, they did not walk
only 500 kilometers. A travel
which turns into an epic. Marie Mon Dobet is a nurse. For her, this trip is also
way to make money. On the boat, there is no doctor
and even fewer infirmaries. With time,
hygiene conditions are deteriorating and diseases appear. So the captain
appointed him ship's doctor. I am a passenger
like anyone. But, I studied
nurse, I am an A2 nurse, I finished in 2003. I had obtained
my diploma with 62%. With its 62%
medical knowledge, Mary goes around the boat
looking for patients. Most of those
who travel on the GBEMANI never have
consulted a doctor. So, with her white blouse
and his stethoscope around his neck, Mary imposes. This one-and-a-half-year-old girl
has a high fever for several days. Mary diagnoses
first an attack of malaria, then changes his mind. I have to put it
under treatment for typhoid. It's serious, it kills. It destroys the intestines. The couple has nothing to pay
the one euro of medicines. But Marie still offers
the first dose of treatment. The journey weakens
first the children, especially when
the poorest parents give them to drink
river water. We need to stop the vomiting
we have cases of typhoid. You put on the stethoscopes, the noise there,
I know how to tell them apart. There are sibilant gasps, there are crackles, we feel it
like tapping the tom-tom. Boom Boom. He is obese, veins,
it's hard to find that. You can't see the veins
even at the level of the feet. If it was even here,
I was going to prick. We are looking for a pill I went asking there,
it's not there. It is as if
she was the war doctor, because the,
conditions are unfavorable. After nine days of travel,
GBEMANI is already accumulating nearly six days late. So much time
who postpones the treatment of the sick by a real doctor in Kisangani. Captain René has just crossed an invisible border
who worries him his boat enters
in the province of Equateur. This rich region
is the scene of a permanent war between armed bands
trying to take control of these gold mines
and diamonds. Several boats
have already been attacked and passengers killed On the GBEMANI,
the atmosphere is tense, especially as the river is loaded
to remind them where they are. The 10th day is over. Every evening, Captain Réné
goes around his boat. He watches over his capital,
as he says. He is paid on a percentage basis those people who sleep
piled on top of each other represent for him
a lot of money. When they have paid for their tickets,
arrived in Kisangani. We are
thirsty for money, we accept
almost everybody who shows up
with his money. And that's why you have to
carry up to the ceiling. Even the fear
of a rebel attack did not start
passenger fatigue. But some are not
aware of another danger. For lack of space, they sleep on the junctions
what's between the boats hung
each other. At the slightest movement of water,
the two shells collide and turn into a guillotine. between the two bars,
It's not good, it's very dangerous and it can crush it can even
amputate his legs with the movement of the boat. It's God
who will protect us. three o'clock in the morning, Marie, the nurse,
just got an emergency call. A man
got kicked in a vice
between boat hulls. His heel is
severely cut. Mary tries to sew it up
with the means at hand. He came to sleep
with his family here and when he lay down, he put a leg
between the two boats. The crew was maneuvering.
And I heard screams. My leg, my leg. Mary has done feats, but she is worried. She doesn't have enough
antibiotics for the whole trip. His great fear
gangrene sets in. 11ᵉ day in the early morning, but God will stay insensitive to their prayers. Just a few hours later,
the left engine gave up the ghost. We have discovered
a bolt that had fallen, we are trying to locate
where did that bolt come from. We are waiting for
the motor obeys. Between
bad news a happy event occurs. A baby has just been born. The family did not have time
to warn Marie, the nurse. It's a boy ? Yes. -He is healthy ?
-Yes. It's that passenger
who helped the mother give birth. I slept in my corner,
and they came to get me to give birth to this woman, because I am
member of the Red Cross. For me it is a great joy
the birth of this child. The mother,
she stays there, her gaze lost. His long journey
to get to the boat was a test. I'm sad
because I have nothing. I lost
everything I had. The military took everything from us
when we were on the road. I only have one part left
my other child's clothes. I have no more clothes
to fight the cold. I fear for my baby,
because we have no more money to buy food. We have no supplies
and no place to shelter it. On the boat,
news travels fast and solidarity is organized. When we saw him in this state,
we wanted to help him although we are not
from the same family, in Congo
we help each other. where misery is,
that's where you'll find your family, that you have
a family or not, where there is a problem,
there is help. During the trip, two more babies
will be born on board. It is always
a great emotion for the sailors. I see it often, I am used to
I am very happy. Grand father
is so happy whom he called his grandson GBEMANI
like the boat. Blocked since
now 7am, angry passengers come ask
explanations to the mechanic. When suddenly the old engine
catches his breath. That's the plunger.
It is in good condition. And that,
it's the connecting rod. She's the one who broke. To catch up
a bit late, Captain Rene
going to take huge risks. He will sail
night on the party the most perilous of the river. A place that never passes
usually only two days. Because here the danger is never found
at the same location. He is moving. The GBEMANI
sinks into darkness with only lighting a big
flashlight. Despite the currents, the pilot must maintain the boat in deep water
in the middle of the river. The pass is narrow. I show him the way,
because there is no longer any markup. If the sailors took
the five-meter probe, they wouldn't arrive
to hit bottom. But the helmsman
will make a mistake. The pilot lost the course. Without projector
to illuminate the shore, it is impossible
to know the position of the vessel. The boat just ran aground
on a sand bank. The system
Communication between the captain
and its sailors is a bit like travel. Without a radio, sailors located
100 meters further do not hear orders. At sunrise,
the boat is still immobilized. All night long,
the front of the ship kept getting bogged down
in the sand. The sailors
did not do their job well. Sure, they must have fallen asleep. We're stuck
since 8 o'clock last night, the captain does what he can
to get us out of here. We were thinking of doing
twelve days of travel, but I'm afraid it's still going on
much longer. Seamen
will try everything for everything. They will try
to separate the barges from the ship to manage to maneuver it. But the operation
is tricky. The barge is in danger of getting stuck
even deeper. That's it,
we glide on the water. Look, everyone is clapping
the crew that got us out of there. The passengers
sing in their honor. We are all happy. Now the captain
must make up for lost time. We got out of the sand. The captain,
he's a stuntman. He is doing well. He's a real fighter. The city of Mbandaka
is finally in sight. She is
half way. Captain Rene
achieved it in twelve days instead of the planned six. A long journey
which stops there for us. The fights
intensifying in the region. The captain disembarks us. He does not want
put us in danger. The GBEMANI will arrive
in due course in a month. Few weeks later, another ship
had much less luck. Overloaded, the *Kia Bounthou*
was shipwrecked. 140 people drowned
in the Congo River.
