Mark Ashurst's Congo journey begins in Kisangani, where he goes upstream to meet the Wa'genia fisherman on an island above Stanley Falls.

A villager wants to sell the island of his ancestors. The sand glitters, but the village chief forbids prospecting for diamonds because this would destroy the fishermen's traditional livelihood.

Meanwhile, Mark meets Bibiche, a 17-year-old school girl travelling to Kinshasa to resume schooling interrupted by war five years earlier. She recalls hiding in the forest while battles raged in Kisangani.

At Yangambi, passengers object to cargo - humanitarian aid corruptly destined for sale in Kinshasa - being loaded on board.

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	Programme One