21 March 2012 Last updated at 00:36

In pictures: Rebuilding the Democratic Republic of Congo

A team from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) travelling with a pirogue (canoe) down the Oubangui river on a mission to distribute Cassava cuttings, agricultural equipment and food.

The Oubangui river forms part of the northern border between the Democratic Republic of Congo and its much smaller neighbour, Congo-Brazzaville. After clashes in 2009, some 100,000 people crossed the river, fleeing ethnic clashes in DR Congo. Photographer Jonathan Torgovnik has travelled with a team from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to deliver aid to the region.

Residents from the village of Monzaya fish in disputed ponds

The fighting was sparked by contested fishing rights and quickly spread to other areas parts of DR Congo's Equatoria province. This was completely separate from the more widely reported violence in the east of the country.

A school in Monzaya that was destroyed during the armed violence in 2009

Today the area is relatively calm, though the scars remain. Here we see a school in Monzaya that was damaged during the fighting.

Local residents form the village of Monzaya. Residents of Enyele and Monzaya are now living in relative calm.

Along with the volunteers of the Red Cross of the Congo, the ICRC assisted families in five districts of the country, providing cassava cuttings, agricultural equipment and fishing materials.

Local residents in the village of Mombanzele, peal and soak Cassava root on the shores of the Oubangui River.

The cassava is one of the most widely consumed staple foods on the continent, though a recent report stresses the need for more research to make it more resistant to pests and disease.

Kumu Mobondo (25) with her two year old daughter Elongo preparing breakfast for her family at dawn

The ICRC has also been helping to reunite families separated during the unrest.

A health centre that reopened around May 2011, and is now serving the local community of Dongo.

A health centre in Dongo reopened in 2011 and now serves the local community. "During my visit to Dongo, I was lucky to be on hand when a nine-year-old girl was reunited with her uncle after being apart for nearly two years," said Torgovnik.

Volunteers of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Red Cross society exhume the remains of civilians killed in Saba.

In Saba Saba, volunteers of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Red Cross society exhumed the remains of civilians who, when returning from their fields, were killed by the roadside during the violence in 2009. The remains were left there and are only now being exhumed to allow families and relatives to have a dignified burial of their loved ones in their village.

Family members and neighbours morn as the remains of civilians who were killed by the roadside during the armed violence in 2009 in Saba are exhumed.

"This was the most emotional part of our visit to the area," said Torgovnik. "The families of the victims were glad to have closure, but the process triggered a lot of emotions, and brought back sad memories of the armed violence, and of family members who were lost."

In Pictures

In pictures: Rebuilding the Democratic Republic of Congo

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