Deadliest Journeys - Liberia: Fatal rains

[Applause] [Music] hey [Music] [Music] every year in the late summer violent tropical storms descend on liberia in west africa the small country seemingly forsaken by god has little choice but to accept its fate the rainbow's ill for fufana and his small pickup like all the bush taxi drivers he knows the downpours will make his life difficult but he remains in good spirits i want money yeah money i'm never tired if you're tired and do nothing what will you eat for several weeks the capital monrovia has been subjected to a deluge [Music] within minutes the town is paralyzed and reduced to almost total chaos [Music] and it's the same story throughout the country in such conditions fafana has trouble getting to work at the taxi terminus he passes monrovia's main market which is shut down the torrent of rain has forced the merchants to close shop to blame are the sewers which are blocked and overflowing a chinese company was meant to have cleaned them out [Music] come here look at the rains flooding [Music] the rain has forced us to put our goods higher we're not making any money right now the government has to do something the sewers are too small and they're overflowing the chinese just took the money and ran red light parking is the collective taxi station the jumping off point for all travel in liberia destroyed by 15 years of civil war liberia has little infrastructure and the countryside lacks just about everything travelers supply it using the bush taxis the fauna's cab is ready to leave you haven't loaded enough rice go on there's still room we can load up more furfana's four wheel drive is already crushed by the weight of its load but to make extra money he's happy to go over the limit [Applause] [Music] no problem we can load another 30 bags okay we'll load up another 30 bags and five cartons my car's very powerful very strong you can load rocks pack it with bags until the suspension breaks my car is called no bad days you'll see how she handles the mud this car nobody come on get on board make room there yeah okay okay i'm going there havana's pickup seems to absorb an infinite number of passengers and bags of rice so long as all are perfectly stacked [Music] [Applause] [Music] to get to greenville on the other side of the country ifana is asking for a small fortune the equivalent of two weeks pay i'll take 20 euros per passenger why is it so expensive because the road is so challenging there are so many accidents cars overturning others stuck in ditches it's the same day and night night and day from monrovia to greenville fawfana will need to deal with the road that snakes through mud for about 300 kilometers [Music] liberia is a country under reconstruction much of its population make hardly enough to buy food and in the country everyone including children are made to work a life of misery that is shamelessly exploited by the evangelical church if you have banknotes of 150 bring them if you have banknotes of 100 bring those too give them to god he will bless you [Music] despite all the prayers nothing comes to relieve the plight of those forced to hit the road we're not animals 11 passengers are anxious about the journey not much still works on the pickup that he's patched up as best as he can you don't need a key yeah no well here it is anyway does the car work yes i've been driving this car for 10 years we'll do a little over 300 kilometers all too soon and the first problems arise the rain has turned the road into an undefined track churned up by the never-ending flow of trucks there are always accidents here overloaded cars tip over often you see that but the lumber companies don't care about the state of the road all they want is word the government should really make them repair the roads [Music] the kilometers slip by the axle strains and the suspension is suffering passengers put up with it all too [Music] [Music] age 21 furfana takes the bumps and the terrible roads in his stride his only fear is the bandits that live in the forest [Music] to tell we're scared of them because we have nothing with which to defend ourselves and they're armed and sometimes people are killed the town isn't much safer but fafana has no choice he needs to fill up at the only pumps on the journey the service station never shows the prices [Music] well same as usual [Music] filling the tank is often a dodgy business you soon realize you have no idea how much gas has been pumped into the tank the attendant claims he's put in four extra liters [Music] there's enough paid so you can't complain i'm not a thief but you're trying to rip me off you haven't given me what i've paid for i've given you the money i've paid you already now give me another four liters and we're done no no no i won't i've already given you 25 liters what 25 liters how can you say that okay all right have your four liters go on give me another six liters the new government of liberia does what it can to repair the roads destroyed by 15 years of savage warfare on this stretch it's constructing a vital new bridge it's a tough challenge the methods are crude and speed is essential the old makeshift bridge could collapse at any time the man in charge has also done what he can as you see there you see the bridge it won't last another two years but probably collapsed every time a truck passes the bridge bends under its weight it's very dangerous and the way it shakes is worrying going up and down the wooden scaffolding barely remains standing next few few minutes there might be a storm at any time 30 minutes later you could have a terrible downpour the water levels can rise very quickly and if you're working here it's best to abandon work and try and escape even if you're walking down there you have to leave moving over the fragile structures above the water involves some acrobatics especially given the workers often don't have proper shoes [Applause] my shoes are too old and i can't when i started working here my shoes were brand new but all the climbing has totally worn them out everything is in short supply in liberia even the most basic material gravel for instance it's indispensable for making concrete but in the country undergoing reconstruction there's not one company that produces it instead for a handful of liberian dollars it's the poorest that head to the quarries to break up the rocks into pebbles some are barely 10 years old [Music] how old are you yeah how old are you no six do you go to school marie has shown up early this morning with her children all day in the sun they break up rocks i'm here because times are hard i bought my husband abandoned my kids and me two years ago i've no man to help me now how many children do you have i have eight three small ones go to school but not the biggest one she doesn't go to school i hope to sign father up for school this year but for the time being i don't have enough money when i see my friends going to school i tell my mother that i want to go too she says she has no money she needs to break a lot of rocks to be able to afford school the little the family earns is not enough to pay for uniforms and school supplies [Music] the small laborers sell the gravel to a woman in monrovia everyone calls her tatty and tatty is very particular about the size of the pebbles i don't want big stones just small pebbles if anyone brings me that garbage they won't get paid fill up the containers all the way to the top i'll buy them and i need to leave right away but i want small pebbles mine any big ones and i'm not paying let me see your pebbles look at my tatty takes her time inspecting the pebbles she shows no pity to the children who have to wait for her carrying 20 kilos of stones on their heads [Music] [Applause] so much hard work for so little how much you get how much did you make 50 cents in one day fatu and her family make 150 liberian dollars the equivalent of one and a half euros even when tati's truck arrives the kids still get no relief breaking up and selling the rocks isn't enough they also need to tip them into the truck's container after 12 hours working the family heads home [Music] the eldest still has chores to do after she can finally revise the lessons her brothers and sisters have learned at school get your alphabet my brother is teaching me to read that way when i do go to school i'll already know how [Music] back on the mud trail and after a day of being shaking about fafana's passengers are exhausted the baby is sick and is running a fever even if he's wary of bandits fafana decides to drive through the night the child needs to see a doctor as soon as possible but suddenly in the middle of nowhere the road is blocked [Music] dozens of vehicles are backed up and there's no way to get through fufana asks his passengers to get off there are a lot of cars stuck here and it's the only way through and it's this four wheel drive that's holding everyone up [Music] almost three hours if now car can pull it out of the mud then we'll be able to get the other one out and these two can help the other one slowly slowly we'll sort this out one after the other why don't you just go round no no it's even worse that way there's no way through there [Applause] to free the first vehicle drivers and assistants are digging trenches the problem is there's only one pickaxe [Applause] the men make an extra effort but it's all for nothing it's decided that towing before wheel drive might work and a makeshift cable is used [Music] [Applause] time passes and the various attempts all end in failure the night is humid and cold and fafana's passengers can only wait stressed and hungry heroically the drivers keep trying they bring stones to fill the trenches [Applause] oh by three in the morning one vehicle has been freed [Applause] but any joy is short-lived as it begins to pour again the rescue effort is quickly abandoned are you still there okay okay what's happening well we'll have to spend the night here there's no alternative right now you'll sleep here yeah i'll sleep what about the women where are they uh under the canvas up there okay [Applause] so what will you do afterwards well we'll try and get going early in the morning yes at 5 00 am fufana wakes up to some good news [Applause] wait till the other vehicles do a u-turn and then you can start up one driver a little smarter than the others has found another way through the forest what will you do i'll take the other route and get through all the four-wheel drives reverse but the improvised route is not an easy one [Applause] there's another road but everyone wants to get on it at the same time [Applause] [Music] all the vehicles rush towards this unexpected escape route [Music] oh oh the dreadful night is finally over [Music] but this woman has nothing to smile about her baby still has a fever and is dehydrated the baby wants a drink but there's no water he wants water yes but there is none i'm not happy [Applause] i'm upset for the passengers they'll all be late now to make up for lost time fifana keeps his foot on the pedal [Music] in the early hours it's raining again and the temperatures dropped to just 18 degrees after a night out in the open huddled under a makeshift cover the passengers are frozen throughout the region the rivers have burst their banks there's a flood in the next village but the locals are resigned the mayor is keen to show how bad the situation is you see over there see that's mine that's why i raise chicken and pigs and a lot of other animals some of them are drowned we need help look at my neighbors they're flooded out there's six of us that live here see [Music] can you still cook is this the kitchen yes how can you cook here over there in the corridor but the downpour doesn't spell disaster for everyone benford for one is happy when it rains [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] along with his friends benford has created a new business [Music] when the floods stop road traffic they help travelers cross the swollen river they just need to persuade them to give them something for their help you can't get across without us [Applause] we'll carry your packages that will cost 40 cents and we'll carry a motorbike too really you'll carry my motorbike yes we'll carry it won't be expensive cover the exhaust pipe with a plastic bag the bag will cost 10 cents [Music] the current is getting stronger and the motorbike risks being swept away the water keeps rising and so does the cost of a lift across i paid 80 cents for my motorbike to be carried [Music] and these are the morning's takings that are the cost of cold and shivering bodies it's time to divvy up the money hey why are you giving him some you didn't carry anything all right give me my money back now give me a fiver i promise you five cents i'll pay him and share the rest with the kids later we all live in the same house [Applause] [Music] anyway [Music] the priority back home is to dry off the dollars there's never enough to last long benford will head off to work again in the afternoon under the rain [Music] after the deluge the track is reduced to a succession of muddy pools all tricky to get through [Music] before each hill the passengers have to dismount [Music] then they have to climb the hills on foot through the sludge yet another odyssey [Music] but it's the only way the four-wheel drives can get through [Music] morale isn't exactly great amongst the passengers and there are more and more complaints baby's tired did you see the road what a pain however is in good form showing off to keep up pretenses and possibly reassuring the passengers as well he's not about to lose his reputation as the best driver in this part of the country was it easy for you [Music] but not everyone has his luck a few kilometers back maurice another driver comes up against a hill his engine is wrecked it's no good the vehicle refuses to go forward [Music] assistants and passengers lend a hand and push the vehicle with its smooth tires at any moment the car could slide and crush them [Music] the motor looks as if it might melt down but morris isn't concerned he knows how to deal with an overheating [Music] engine heating up so i'm trying [Music] and this time with a good push the vehicle makes it up and over the hill [Music] from here on the road crosses a series of rivers and there are no bridges it's common to be stuck for days at a time waiting for water levels to drop the road to greenville is a long and painful one we drivers suffer yes yes we do the passengers also suffer they're in a hurry to arrive but they'll be late the roads are just too bad without a four-wheel drive and a good mechanic you would never get there but we drivers know our own vehicles and we always make it in the end yes and as soon as furfana starts boasting his vehicle inevitably breaks down [Music] [Applause] in liberia petrol is often of poor quality causing the filters to get dirty easily but the battery is also tiring the only solution is to push why not because when i'm driving i'm earning you take better care of your car than your body yes because if i don't make money i won't get any respect not even my wife if i'm not earning anything she'll go off with someone else [Applause] drivers love money i fall in love with a woman one day and i have no money the woman won't stay if i had to choose between women and money then i'd choose money stop my village is just over there greenville the final destination passengers can breathe a sigh of relief it's been three hard days and a harder 300 kilometers [Music] agnes is happy to be reunited with her family [Music] and then it's time to pay for fauna how much is the us dollar today seventy five dollars for one us well here's two thousand dollars no no you owe me two thousand seven hundred now come on two thousand seven hundred why two thousand seven hundred two thousand for you and seven hundred for your goods why 700. lawrence yeah laurence come here where did that 700 come from you told me 2 000 total at the start what you're crazy i'm gonna get your bags and put them back on the truck here keep your money okay i'll pay the difference just put it on the back of the car nothing's been opened one two three four five six seven once it's sorted out fafana gets behind the wheel again with a bit of luck it'll take one day less to return to monrovia agnes is one of the few merchants in town with money borrowed from her father she's bought a lot of different goods including some very nice thongs from china how much would you ask for them five a pair uh you said 500 you bought them for two and sell them for five how are you having money i wanted my follower well i have nothing i asked my father to lend me 200 us dollars almost 30 us dollars it's expensive but i had to pay now she needs to sell the thongs which might be tricky in a village where few people have money without hesitating she offers the time-honored technique of credit and that could lead to over-indebtedness the female neighbors can't resist the thongs from the big city and businesses brisk [Music] each pair costs five and a half euros cash or five euros on credit agnes will need to follow up often to collect the money she's owed [Music] i don't have the 50 cents by the end of the day agnes has only sold a few pairs on credit to extend her client base she rather relies on god every sunday she visits the pentecostal church at greenville to pray [Music] but to the evangelists mass is all about money the well-being of the soul can be bought for handfuls of liberian dollars as far as the past is concerned there can never be enough donations whether you have 500 or 250 bring it if you have 150 or 100 notes give them up i'll take anything hundreds fifties bring it all don't stop give them to god he will bless you [Music] to help this racket along there's plenty of razzmatazz [Music] [Applause] [Music] glory the pastors have every reason to look happy the three of them own six churches in greenville with seven collections in each church they make a small fortune every sunday [Music] after the ceremony the pastors have no qualms about parading about in their well-cut suits and italian shoes we are going to have a reception we're going to have a little party to let off some steam have fun the greenville catholics aren't so lucky their church is in ruins and will likely remain so until recently the entire village was in a similar state what has improved matters is the arrival of a large indonesian company golden a major producer of palm oil every night the plantation tractor ferries the workers home among them is otello who hopes the multinational will keep investing in greenville this other place this is where we live what's that destroyed by the wall the whole neighborhood was destroyed in the war the water fought the liberian war and now it's destroyed [Music] this is my sister laura my wife just about afford a bowl of rice each every day a bowl costs 40 cents it's difficult but it's the only solution our job is to gather the palm nuts we need to survive and give our children food otello and his companions live like slaves if they want to work they need to wait for a long time in the village square at midnight [Applause] these people spend the entire night on the ground here the night they've been waiting for the tractor for hours they wake up at midnight and sometimes wait until four or five in the morning before they start coming it's really hard tractor's coming now [Music] when the headlights come into view it's a mad rush on the tractor heading for the plantation there's not enough room for everyone [Music] this woman scared by all the shoving holds back there's a tremendous struggle to get a place in the trailer if they miss work twice they'll be fired okay the tractor can't take all of us there aren't enough vehicles we won't be able to earn any money but she'll jump on at the last moment and the crush on board is barely supportable we are not animals we are not animals about a dozen workers won't be able to get on board rotello has found a few centimeters and there's more than an hour's uncomfortable journey ahead to make sure he arrives on time the driver accelerates without a care for his passengers [Music] sitting here on the edge is dangerous it's sunrise [Music] and crammed tightly together the workers suffer in silence [Music] on the edge of the plantation golden's trucks have churned up the roads for those being transported the discomfort continues and even the taxi motorbikes have trouble to make sure they arrive on time some finish the journey on foot it's a risky business as they could get run over at any moment [Music] [Music] gradually a traffic jam forms then a truck sinks in the mud and in all the chaos eats each man for himself [Music] the tractor advances a few meters but has to pull up as two four-wheel drive vehicles force their way through the second car slows down and gets stuck [Music] and this time the road is blocked for good [Music] the trouble is they rip us off to get us out of this mess we haven't caused it and they asked for money to get us out of the mud these guys are crazy instead of waiting for us to clear things up they just keep trying to push their way in and then they get bogged down it's not our problem you're the ones to blame for ripping up the road [Applause] [Music] finally the tractor breaks free of the mud but they're late for rotello and his unlucky comrades risk having their pay docked the multinational has already cleared more than two hundred thousand hectares of forest matala's work is potting the palm trees after five years their fruit will be squeezed to produce the prized palm oil the extracted oil is used in food and cosmetics and is increasingly controversial it's a profitable industry but one that is catastrophic for the forest as soon as one plot of land has been cleared as many as fifteen hundred workers begin planting as many palm trees as possible because our wages are ridiculous for the money from this place it's too small it's too long we own just two and a half euros a day what can i afford to give my family for just two and a half euros a day the liberian authorities have supported these efforts and have no problem in eradicating villages in the name of profit william used to be the mayor of one such village [Music] over there was my village and my farmer see there's coconut palms here they cut down hundreds of trees here yeah for you there were fruit trees yeah i'm here for you because you on your wheel and trees everywhere like a wheel our own government stole and sold off our land for a pittance now that's where my uncle and my father are buried they're five family tombs here and every day the planters leave behind the desolate landscape after the war and the storms liberia is today losing its forests the country seems destined to be abused [Music] you [Music]

Channel: Best Documentary

Views: 222,708

Rating: 4.8287292 out of 5

Keywords: free documentary, waterways, documentary, roads, travel, National Geographic

Id: pUE0swtrp8s

Length: 48min 36sec (2916 seconds)

Published: Fri Sep 25 2020