Episode 2 Ewan McGregor: Cold Chain Mission

'I've been an ambassador for

'the United Nations Children's Organisation,

'UNICEF for eight years.

'And I've travelled the world to see the work they do

'protecting and saving the lives of vulnerable children.

'There's a vast network that spans the globe,

'taking lifesaving vaccines to children

'living in some of the most remote areas on the planet.'

Look where we are!

'The routes are called Cold Chains.

'These Cold Chains are run by governments

'and various non-profit groups.

'Our mission is to take life-saving vaccines to children

'along three of the world's toughest Cold Chain routes.'

The traffic's just unbelievable!

Go on, son! Go on, go on, go on!

'So far my journey took me from Los Angeles to South Asia,

'where I crossed the flood plains of India.'

I haven't seen a five-legged... It's made me feel a bit weird.

'And through the isolated peaks of the Himalayas to reach places

'where ancient ways of life remain.'

Never seen anything like it before.

'The next part of my Cold Chain mission

'takes me deep into the African jungle.'

So we're here in Brazzaville in the Republic of Congo.

And over there is Kinshasa in the DRC,

the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Two capital cities facing each other across this enormous river,

the Congo river.

'Brazzaville and Kinshasa are the two closest capital cities

'in the world and they remain tightly linked

'following the brutal civil wars that devastated both countries

'in the 1990s.'

'Brazzaville is steadily getting back on its feet,

'foreign investment from the Chinese and Middle East

'has seen a boom in development.

'Our arrival coincides with election time across the river in DRC.

'It's still early days for democracy there,

'in 40 years there's only been one previous election.

'Not surprisingly, over here in Brazzaville,

'the city is buzzing with anticipation.'

THEY CHEER

'I'm in the Bacongo district of Brazzaville,

'home of the Sapeurs,

'a bunch of guys who take fashion very seriously...'

-Are you Karrell?

-Yes.

-Nice to meet you, I'm Ewan.

'..And Karrell is one of them.'

Do you find people look at you because you're dressed well?

'Amidst the dirt and chaos of Bacongo's streets,

'Sapeurs pride themselves on being conspicuously well dressed.'

It's probably not the ideal road conditions for the...

you know... the Gucci loafer.

'It seems I'm a little underdressed to meet Karrel's Sapeur friends,

'so he takes me to his local tailor.'

Jacques tailor.

-Bonjour monsieur, ca va?

-Tres bien.

-Je m'appelle Ewan.

Oh, I love it.

This is for you.

-Oh, that's very kind, thank you very much.

-Keep it.

'Sapology came about in the 60s

'when dictator President Mobuto

'decreed everyone should dress in traditional African attire.'

Very nice.

Yes, in Congo there is good tailors.

'Sapology was originally a way of rebelling.'

-Is that a real cigar?

-Yes, yes.

'Apparently, this is Sapology.'

This is the way we do, trying to show off his...

This is like a show.

HE SPEAKS FRENCH

Now I'm going to make another gesture.

His name is The Mountain. The Mountain of Sapology.

These are demonstrations. He's the Governor.

Yes, the Governor.

He's walking smartly.

It's very interesting. Everyone looks fantastic, sharp.

In a place where it must be quite difficult to be that sharp.

It's very interesting.

When we kept prying, what does it mean?

What is, what is Sapology, what is the belief?

All that came back was, "It's just about wearing clothes."

And so I think ultimately, what it means, Sapology is...

it's just about wearing clothes.

So this is the area called Poto-Poto in Brazzaville

and there's a health centre here

where they're immunizing children five days a week.

In the whole of Congo, there's a 90% immunization rate

which is really healthy.

So today we'll see some children being immunized here,

and then there's health workers measuring the babies' height,

weight, all the things we would expect at home.

'Every year, millions of children under the age of five

'die from easily preventable diseases.'

-You do this work all week?

-Always. Every day. Every day.

'The government and their partners must remain vigilant.

'In 2011 there was a polio outbreak here in the Republic of Congo

'that left 200 people dead.'

Their figure for children who are immunized is 90% here in the Congo,

which is very high, but it does leave 10% of children who aren't,

who are difficult to reach, maybe far away, difficult to find,

and UNICEF and their partners employ the Cold Chain

to make sure those vaccines do get out there

and, you know, won't rest until all of the children are immunized.

'The start of any Cold Chain begins in the freezer.'

-Hello? Yves? Bonjour, ca va?

-Ca va.

'This depot holds thousands of pounds worth of vaccines.'

Our shipment arrived from Copenhagen

to help stock up this WIF, walk-in freezer.

This WIF services the whole of the Congo.

This we didn't see in India or Nepal, there's a Yellow Fever.

Tetanus.

Here's one in the box that's an example of one that's gone off.

You can see the VVM there, the Visual Vial Monitor,

the square's turned black, so that means that's no good.

That's what you don't want to see

when you're out in the middle of nowhere.

'Having arrived in the Republic of Congo from Nepal,

'our destination is the village of Losso, 450 miles north of here.

'The quickest way to travel north is by helicopter.

'The chopper can get us as far as Impfondo,

'a frontier town with a hospital fridge

'where we can store the vaccines.

'From there we follow the Motaba River 55 miles to Losso.

'There are also indigenous tribes there known as Autochthons,

'living deep in the surrounding jungles.

'We want to get to these children too.'

I'm going to make sure we get a new box.

One that suits me better,

cos this red's going to clash with everything I'm going to wear.

We're back on the road now

and we're on the way to get the helicopter to Impfondo,

not to be confused with In Fondue,

which is when you find yourself in a pot of boiled cheese!

And we get up to Impfondo and from there we'll take the boat

cos that's the only way really to get up to where we're headed.

It's all... it looks on the map to be all kind of wetlands,

small rivers, marshes and stuff.

So there's no way to drive in there, you have to go by boat.

And if we were to go by boat from here,

it would take us days and days cos we're going against the current.

I like flying in helicopters a lot. I do.

'It's a four hour flight

'and within 20 minutes we've left Brazzaville behind.

'From then on it's just mile after mile of impenetrable jungle.

'This is part of the second largest rainforest on earth,

'after the Amazon.

'Stretching across Central Africa,

'it covers an area five times the size of the British Isles.

'The dense jungle is refuge to the world's largest population

'of western lowland gorillas, a unique breed of forest elephant

'and many indigenous tribes who have inhabited the area

'for thousands of years.

'These ancient tribes

'who predominantly lead a hunter-gatherer lifestyle,

'surviving off the forest

'increasingly come into contact with the Bantu,

'a generic term for the people who've migrated across Africa.

'Halfway through the journey, we stop to refuel.'

He asked me if I wanted a drink.

And I opened it and...

It's er... aviation fuel.

Moi j'ai boire. Regarde.

-You can drink it?

-Moi. Regardez. Kerosene.

Don't do it... no, no!

Now spit it.

You're going to die now!

Spit that out. Spit it out.

I met him many years ago, but this is the first time he's doing this.

-It's good for the teeth?

-C'est bon!

Yeah, no smoking please near that guy.

Since we've left Brazzaville we've really just flown over tiny little,

you know, five, six house towns on the way here, not very much at all.

But uh...

yeah, we're getting further and further out into the cuds.

Into the back of beyond.

Maybe it's a relation of the Loch Ness Monster?

A cousin, distant cousin?

From Scotland to Africa.

It's the first clearing we've seen in about 20 minutes,

half an hour. It's been thick, thick forest.

Ah, my goodness, and there is the Congo River.

Seeing it from the air gives you a really good perspective

on how hard and difficult it must be

to get to the children that need these vaccines.

Oh, it's a big barge, it's like a...

I've never seen anything like that before.

It's a floating market.

Look at that.

'Giuseppe the pilot tells me these floating markets

'are a lifeline for the families

'whose villages are not accessible by road.

'People living along the river steer their dugout canoes

'straight to the barge and exchange things like fish or bushmeat

'for essential items like medicine or clothes.

'People will live on them for several weeks at a time,

'travelling some 1,400km up and down the river.'

That's amazing. What a sight.

Here you can see the scale of the river, how wide it is.

It's an enormous river.

So this is Impfondo,

and it's the last semblance of any town north of here.

Here's the airport, you can see the runway there.

But this is it, after this it's all wilderness.

'Impfondo is the last place to stock up on supplies for our journey

'into the interior and our last opportunity

'to re-freeze the ice blocks to keep the vaccines cool.'

There it is, Impfondo.

The final frontier.

Impfondo is the regional capital

and home to around 20,000 people.

'The town is kept running by supplies

'shipped up the river from Brazzaville,

'a journey that takes seven days.

'When the river is low, between January and July

'fuel boats can't make the journey up from the capital,

'pushing fuel prices up and leaving the town even more cut off.

'All the unfinished buildings and roads

'speak of the corruption that is rife here in the Congo.

'The neglected transport and communication networks

'makes getting around very hard.'

'This government-run hospital is the main vaccine storage facility

'for the entire region, an area that makes up a fifth of the Congo,

'so all the Cold Chains set up to vaccinate children

'across this vast area, must stock up from here.'

We're gonna leave our vaccines here,

put the freezer blocks back in the freezer,

so that when we leave tomorrow, everything's as cold as it can be.

They're fine.

You can see the little purple circle, VVM is good.

At least our vaccines are safe in the fridge

and we'll refreeze our freezer packs,

cos it's quite a long journey to where we're going.

And in fact we don't know how long it's going to take.

So, if we can leave with the box being as cold as possible

that's good. That's the best it could be.

'It's morning, and time to collect supplies

'and meet the team I'll be travelling with.'

Yeah, no, I like this town a lot.

Action movie? No, not one I've seen, no.

What is that? Is it chilli paste, do you think?

Palm oil? Is it?

Oh, look at these, they're like caterpillars.

-Pour manger? Oui?

-Oui.

-Cheni.

-Cheni?

C'est une... caterpillar. I don't know the French word.

Can I pick one up?

Quite thorny little guys.

This is where she laughs and runs off,

cos you're actually not meant to eat them at all.

It's not very nice, is it? It's really horrible.

Yeah, it's really horrible.

OK. Anyone got water?

'Despite being so remote

'you can find pretty much anything you could want here.'

It's like a kinda catfish that, isn't it?

'..including bushmeat.'

'Despite being classified as threatened or endangered,

'people see it as an opportunity to make some money.'

Bonjour. Ca va?

Bonjour.

Shall we get some matches? We need matches, don't we?

Shall we get like four, five packets?

Voila monsieur, merci beaucoup.

-OK.

-Merci. Merci, monsieur.

It is possible of course, that those caterpillars are used

as a sort of laxative or...

they could be used for any sort of medical purpose.

We've got no idea, right?

MIMICS BREAKING WIND

'The first member of the team is Pierre, our translator.'

-People eat them?

-Yes, it's good to eat.

I don't want to eat it so much.

And how come this one's still alive? It must be er...

HE SPEAKS FRENCH

-Merci.

-Merci.

THEY LAUGH

THEY SPEAK FRENCH

This is Ibrahim who's going to be coming up the river with us

and he's our vaccinator.

He's actually going to be vaccinating the children.

Ibrahim's been doing this route for a long time, right?

Ten years. So you know the people there, and they know you?

There we are.

OK, so we have our vaccines, we've met our immunizer,

we've got extra ice packs and we've got all our vaccines

and we only have one other member of our team to meet

and that's the nurse, and she happens to be a nun,

she's called Sister Ancilla and she lives in a mission down here,

so we'll pick her up and then get to the boats and head up the river.

THEY SING

'Sister Ancilla is a Nigerian nurse

'who has been in Impfondo for five years

'and regularly does journeys into the jungle

'to vaccinate children and deliver healthcare.'

-Sister Ancilla?

-Yes.

-Bonjour, je m'appelle Ewan.

-Uh, OK.

-How are you?

I am Sister Ancilla. Reverend Sister Ancilla.

'Before Sister Ancilla can come with me, she must tend to her animals.'

Where our dogs, our goats are staying.

There's chickens everywhere.

'Part of the Holy Family For Those In Need,

'Sister Ancilla lives at the convent with two other nuns.

'Their duties include teaching at the local school

'and caring for orphaned children.'

Oh, it's got little babies, this one.

I had two ducks in London once

and then I had a duck in America.

We had a pet duck.

If you're there when they're born, they attach to you

and follow you everywhere.

So my wife and eldest daughter were at the hatching,

so she just used to follow them around.

Petita she was called.

'With imported foods being so expensive

'the convent relies on being as self-sufficient as possible.'

COCKEREL CROWS

This is Impfondo. You can't even buy their foods.

-No.

-Their foods...

Has to come from Brazzaville?

All of them is coming from Brazzaville.

So here you can see the logistical problems that we're having already,

before we've even left.

We've got three boats and a whole bunch of stuff,

kit for filming, the vaccine boxes, a generator for power,

and trying to fit us all on the boats

and be able to film and get everything we need up there,

is very, very complicated.

It's going to be very cramped.

It's like a combination of Apocalypse Now

and Death on the Nile.

Look at that guy styling!

Five men and a sheep

in a dug-out canoe.

Why is it that you put this thing here?

-OK, I'll show you.

-Are you a musician?

This is my wife Eve.

On the heart, Eve.

And then my daughter Clara is 15,

my daughter Esther is ten,

my daughter Jamiyan is ten

and my daughter Anouk is ten months.

So I have four girls.

-And then I have a flower for each girl.

-OK.

For all my women. I'm a lucky man, you see.

I like it. How many children do you want to get?

I think four is enough.

THEY LAUGH

I think that'll do for now.

-Yes, that'll do.

-How old are you?

40-years-old.

40 years? I am your senior.

-Oh, you are?

-Yes, I am 43 years old.

-I would have thought you were younger than me.

-No.

'All along the river are tiny market communities.'

You can get your bumper-pack there.

Your Christmas pack of soap here. Fishing line, might be quite useful.

Oh, that's the... maybe this is for the crocodiles. Look.

'Families here survive by trading produce from the forest.

'With virtually no employment opportunities,

'anything that can be sold, will be sold.

'Any unusual items are potentially big money earners,

'but I can't help feeling uncomfortable

'with some of the things on offer.'

Is that an owl?

THEY SPEAK FRENCH

Yes. Do you know it?

No, it's a beautiful bird. I wish it was free.

He's selling it.

What do people do with it?

THEY SPEAK FRENCH

No.

Tell him he should let it free.

It belongs in the wild.

HE SPEAKS FRENCH

THEY LAUGH

'We're now on a tributary of the Ubangi, the Mutamba river,

and with every mile we travel it becomes narrower.

HE SHOUTS

So a little bit further up we have to branch off to find Losso.

And a few facts about the River Congo.

It's the second largest river in the world.

It drains the size of Europe,

using over 10,000 streams and rivers.

There's over 700 types of fish life in the Congo,

one of which is the Giant Tiger Fish

which shares the same razor-sharp teeth as the Great White Shark.

Ummm... what else can I tell you about it?

And it's often to be found full of African children.

Our friend has a cold. She's not feeling very well.

So she's covered in a blanket.

'Giuseppe the pilot told us earlier about a Loch Ness-type creature.

'And it's said to inhabit these waterways.

'It's not hard to imagine a prehistoric creature hiding in here.

'The Congolese government say that 80% of this forest

'is still uncharted.

'And nestled deep in the heart of all this, is Losso.

'All supplies for the village must be brought in from down river.

'But when the water is low,

'it's only just possible to make it this far.

'Well out of range of Impfondo's radio stations,

'Losso is situated right on the edge of civilisation.

'Around 650 people live in Losso.

'The majority are Bantu, the rest are Autochthons,

'known in the western world as pygmies,

'though this is considered a derogatory term here.

'They are the people indigenous to this rainforest.'

OK? There we are.

The chief of this place, of Losso, this is his house.

-And is he here just now?

-No, he went out.

He went to the forest for fishing.

'The village is governed by a Bantu chief.

'He's been in this role for nearly 30 years.

'The chief owns all the surrounding land

'and controls any people living on it, including the Autochthons.

'Human-rights campaigners have drawn attention to the fact that

'Autochthons are regarded as second-class citizens

'across much of equatorial Africa.

'Many Bantu go as far as to see them as their property.

'Because it's considered something of a time-honoured tradition

'Bantus often don't see it, or term it, as others would...

'slavery.'

This is where we're going to camp.

This is the chief's house

but he's away fishing at the moment, he's not here

and I feel like there's a little bit of hesitation with the villagers

cos I think obviously the normal thing would be to arrive

and approach the chief

and be initiated into their company that way.

But cos he's not here, everyone's a little bit stand-offish.

He's there.

We'll put our tents here, which is the area they've suggested for us,

which is a good area for a camp.

Make a little fire.

Be nice.

'Autochthons often work as labourers for Bantu.

'Their extensive knowledge means they're also experts in hunting,

'fishing and gathering food from the forest.

'But of course,

'anything procured from the land automatically belongs to the Chief.'

-Ca va?

-Oui, ca va.

-Bonjour.

What's he up to? What's he doing with the machete?

-So he needs sticks like this?

-Yes.

And then the fish go in the middle for smoking?

Yeah, like that. Look, a brilliant demonstration.

Does he live here? In this village?

THEY SPEAK A CONGOLESE DIALECT

How long's he lived here?

Since when he was born.

Does he have children?

THEY SPEAK A CONGOLESE DIALECT

Four? Me too.

HE SPEAKS A CONGOLESE DIALECT

Did he hear about the immunizations? Does he know about that?

THEY SPEAK FRENCH

Ah, with the kids. Ah, good.

Well, tell him we'll see him later when we do the vaccinations.

We'll see him then.

HE SPEAKS A CONGOLESE DIALECT

'Over the years, as a result of warfare and deforestation,

'Autochthon families have been displaced from the forests

'and forced to settle on Bantu land.

'Reliant on Bantus for work,

'the Autochthons essentially became their slaves.

'Many live in the homes of their Bantu masters,

'often under the pretext of non-existent blood ties.

'They work but receive little in the way of payment,

'other than alcohol and cigarettes.

'These are new vices to the Autochthones

'and adults often become dependent on drink,

'and therefore even more dependent on their Bantu masters.

'Many of the villagers, like the chief, are away fishing.

'We do a sweep of the houses to make sure we don't miss anyone.'

Here's a bit of Congolese graffiti, look...

"Sexy."

A lot of fish graffiti.

How old is the baby?

THEY SPEAK FRENCH

Six months.

Has he had any immunizations yet?

OK. And does he need more today? He should have more today.

-Mais oui!

-Polio maybe? He's a sweet wee boy, look.

He's been playing with the firewood for sure. Isn't he?

Anyone got a wet wipe?

HE LAUGHS

'This woman is the village witch doctor.'

And is she the only option for medicine in the village?

'Using herbal remedies and spiritualism

'she alone treats the 650 residents of Losso

'for everything from aches and pains

'to life-threatening tropical diseases,

'such as malaria and yellow fever.

'Many villagers have more faith in these traditional remedies

'than modern medicine.'

THEY SPEAK A CONGOLESE DIALECT

THEY SING

'Losso has a brand-new school building,

'but I can't see any Autochthon children here.

'Congolese schools often charge fees that many Autochthones can't pay.'

BABY CRIES

-What are you eating? Sugar cane.

-Sugar cane.

SHE LAUGHS

HE SPEAKS FRENCH

'Ibrahim tells us that he will announce

'that the vaccine clinic is opening.

'He's well-known for his regular visits

'and when the villagers see him, they know to expect vaccines.'

SPEAKER PLAYS MUSIC

He's just saying again the importance of that VVM,

that it's white, the square is white.

If it's black, you don't give it to the children,

cos it wouldn't do any good.

Yeah, they sort of keep themselves to themselves,

the Autochthon people and the Bantu.

Voila! Voila!

'It's been five months since Losso last had a visit from Ibrahim,

'so lots of mothers turn up with their children.'

It's amazing seeing that, you don't get used to it, do you?

Just what it means, it's fantastic.

It's so simple, two drops and that's it.

BABY CRIES

The Autochthon man we met earlier returns.

He's a bit drunk.

HE SPEAKS A CONGOLESE DIALECT

HE SPEAKS A CONGOLESE DIALECT

'It's hard to know what the situation is,

'but there does seem to be a lot of drinking here in this village,

'hinting at deeper problems within the community.'

THEY ARGUE

'There are clearly inequalities within this community,

'but with their own established laws and practices in place

'it takes time to change attitudes.'

I think the father, he seems to be sort of the patriarch of that group,

he seems to be the head of that group of Autochthon people there.

I think he's just got very drunk. He wasn't drunk when we arrived.

We spoke to him over there when he was chopping wood

and he was quite... He seemed quite all right.

He's just obviously got a grievance and he was a bit drunk,

so he aired it there.

'We get the first batch of vaccinations done,

'but there's still no sign of the chief, so we turn in for the night.'

Well, it's our last day here today in the Congo.

We got to Losso last night, and an amazing little village,

really incredible, seeing the two different peoples that live here,

witnessing the immunization yesterday was fantastic.

Today we're going to go and try and see

if we can find even more remote people up the river,

the Autochthon people,

and that's something that's not part of this Cold Chain,

that's a little extra bit that we're doing,

so that's quite exciting.

Do you see what they do?

They form a tunnel on either side, the worker ants.

They form a tunnel and all the ants go down the middle of the tunnel.

And the ants on the outside form a kind of bridge,

a tunnel for them to go through.

At least he's moving away from most of them.

So this is some big diamond prospecting rig

that's been left here.

The diamond prospectors come up here,

I guess cos it's just so completely remote,

trying to see if they can find diamonds in this river.

'Despite most Congolese families living below the poverty line,

'the Republic of Congo is rich in natural resources,

'including oil and minerals.

'It also has some small diamond deposits.'

What nationality is the company? Are they Congolese?

Lebanese?

They didn't find many diamonds, but when they came here in February,

which it's now December, it's a long time ago,

they promised to build a hospital and a school

and to help the village.

The guys who are involved with the diamond company here

are just guys who've been hired to look after the boat,

move the boat, they're not spokesmen for the company.

They can't tell us how the company feel about this,

but certainly the feeling in the village

is not very friendly about the diamond people.

'Having heard we're here, several more Autochthon families

'have returned to the village for vaccinations.

'But there are still more out fishing,

'some with unvaccinated children.

'I really want to see if we can push into the jungle

'and find these Autochthon children.'

'I've heard the chief is back and a formal meeting is expected.'

Can you just thank him for his hospitality?

'If we are to navigate the maze of waterlogged swamps,

'we'll need canoes and an Autochthon guide.'

HE SPEAKS A CONGOLESE DIALECT

'The chief has provided an Autochthon guide, 20-year-old Igg.'

HE SPEAKS A CONGOLESE DIALECT

HE SPEAKS A CONGOLESE DIALECT

'Chief Alfonse also commands the use of the village's wooden canoes

'and boatmen.

'We'll need them to get us further into the forest.

'Right now the Chief holds all the cards.

'And there's yet another factor to consider.'

I didn't realise it was going to be a negotiation,

I just thought it was to say thanks for letting us camp over there,

but obviously it's some sort of formal...agreement

that he has to make to allow us to go up the river.

It's totally just like the Dark Ages, like life, you know,

in the feudal system, isn't it?

He's the king,

he collects taxes from people to farm, or fish, in this case.

'While the Chief and the Wise Man discuss my request,

'Sister Ancilla offers our Autochthon guide Igg

'medicine for a skin complaint.'

To bath is very difficult for them.

To wash their clothes is very difficult.

So many of them is having different types of skin diseases...

HE SCREAMS

'..Which proves quite painful.'

SHE LAUGHS

This thing is very painful.

That's why many children are running away from me!

SHE LAUGHS

'Negotiations are a normal part of delivering vaccines to children.

'But they're delicate, and because we want to continue

'further north, into his land, with a camera crew, even more so.

'I feel conscious that if I put a foot wrong

'we may be refused entry to the forest.'

OK, we've spoken to the chief, now the Wise Man's arrived

and we have to have a conference with the Wise Man

in case he has any questions about us going up-river,

so we'll do that now.

Hello. Bonjour.

HE SPEAKS A CONGOLESE DIALECT

I mean the ultimate thing we can give is

by organising the immunization process.

HE SPEAKS A CONGOLESE DIALECT

Well, we have, we brought lots of food with us,

and when we leave we can certainly leave all the food we brought here

for the villagers.

HE SPEAKS A CONGOLESE DIALECT

OK. Merci, monsieur.

HE SPEAKS FRENCH

HE SPEAKS FRENCH

HE SPEAKS FRENCH

HE SPEAKS FRENCH

Merci, monsieur, merci beaucoup.

'We get our permissions

'but we have to pay an agreed price for the boats

'and the boatmen.'

'We travel in our own boat with the chief's men behind.

'We'll swap to the canoes when we reach the narrow inlets

'that will take us into the swampland.'

'We're told this is the first time Chief Alfonse has

'permitted foreigners to visit this outpost of Losso.

'But once we reach the inlet,

'and out of sight of the village and Chief Alfonse,

'the boatmen refuse to take us in.'

THEY ARGUE IN FRENCH

'They demand money.

'Unless we agree, they won't take us any further.'

This is the turn-off from the river

where we met the boatmen with the wooden canoes.

they're going to take us up,

apparently there's an Autochthon settlement or family

that live up this tiny little creek,

so we came on our boat just to meet them,

and thought everything was arranged,

but now there's a lot of discussion about money.

THEY CONTINUE ARGUING

THEY CONTINUE ARGUING

We should just pay them and go.

It's not a great deal of money they're asking for.

I mean, I think everyone's annoyed at the principle of it

that it was all arranged already

and now they're asking for money, but I'm not surprised.

'We have no choice but to pay the extra amount this time.'

Thank you very much.

So, we're off. Into the wilds.

Special effects have been in putting in some smoke for us, which is nice.

Well, they said we were going remote,

and this is about as remote as you can imagine.

Nice, now all the arguing has stopped and everything now.

It's very peaceful in here.

Limbo, Sister!

Oooooooo!

They don't cut the Sister any slack.

We'd be terribly, you know, polite around a nun, as we are.

But they don't cut her any slack at all.

It felt when we got to Losso

that we were about as remote as we could be.

But, um, we didn't know the half of it,

look at this, I mean this is unbelievable.

And there's people that we're trying to find

live up here about another 20 minutes or something.

So if we hadn't come with the vaccines to them,

I don't know how their children would be vaccinated.

They simply wouldn't be.

'Half an hour later and we've gone as far as we can by canoe.'

-Merci beaucoup!

-OK.

Thanks, mate.

So we've left the canoes and we're on foot now.

Igg's leading the way to the little settlement we think is up this way.

And we're TOTALLY in the middle of nowhere.

Completely in the middle of nowhere.

Deep in the forest and with no sign of the settlement,

a woman from the outpost comes to greet us.

Hello.

Oh, petit chien.

Ah.

OK...swimming.

Oui, allez.

THEY LAUGH

Ca va? Pardon! Excusez-moi.

Imagine doing all of this, and there aren't any kids,

they're all out fishing, or they're all away.

Or imagine doing all this and the icepacks aren't cold enough

and the vaccines have all gone off.

That's a reality. What a nightmare.

Disappointment.

Oh, it's for catching fish, I guess.

Oh, that one's empty.

It's amazing, isn't it?

They've dammed this whole area

and then they have these baskets, fish catchers.

It's so ingenious.

Here we are.

'It's almost empty here.'

'The only children are Bantu children from Losso...'

Bonjour.

'..and strangely, the Chief's wife.'

'This is actually a seasonal outpost of Losso.

'It's where Autochthons stay during fishing expeditions.

'As this is all land governed by Chief Alfonse,

'any fish they catch here belong to him.'

HE SPEAKS FRENCH

'Away from the watchful eye of the Chief,

'I get a chance to talk with our guide Igg.'

And how does he end up to work with the chief?

Cos he works with the Chief, right?

Right. But why did he, how did he come to live with the Chief?

How did that relationship start?

THEY SPEAK FRENCH

'Igg seems only too aware that the Chief's wife is nearby.

'He's hesitant to give us any clear answers.'

And does he work for him for money

or does he work for him for...um...food?

THEY SPEAK FRENCH

Do they get a hard time from the other people?

THEY SPEAK FRENCH

'An Autochthon man appears from the forest.'

THEY EXCHANGE GREETINGS

'His name is Kadiga, and he tells us that he heard

'we were here doing vaccinations.

'So he brought his wife, six children and grandchild to find us.'

THEY SPEAK FRENCH

Ah, got here just in time, then.

That's the BCG, isn't it?

That's it, as simple as that.

One, two.

It's great, isn't it?

It's not the answer to all of the problems, vaccinating children,

but it's the very first step in giving them a future.

I think if we can reach these children here,

there's nowhere more remote, so there's no reason why

we shouldn't be able to reach all children.

And then there's a whole bunch of other problems, you know,

that we've encountered as well, with poverty and remoteness and politics.

But if you've got that really important start,

protected from these easily preventable diseases,

that gives you hope for all the other problems that are there.

I think it's been an amazing journey,

really, what an eye-opener.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd