WIDE ANGLE is on the ground as the Democratic Republic of Congo, a nation reeling from decades of dictatorship and a civil war that left more than four million dead, holds its first elections in 45 years. 

WIDE ANGLE is on the ground as the Democratic Republic of Congo holds its first elections in 45 years - an election supported by a record 400 million U.N. dollars. The stakes are high in Congo, a nation rich in timber, diamonds, copper and coltan, but reeling from decades of dictatorship and a civil war that left more than four million dead. WIDE ANGLE follows a former school principal, running for parliament, who is passionate about improving living conditions in a country where per capita income is $100 per year. The program also looks at what the election means to ordinary Congolese like McCoy, a former schoolteacher who spends every day scraping in the mud for diamonds, earning less than a dollar a day - not always enough for his wife, Sophia, to be able to feed the baby. As the votes are cast under the bright lights of international media and monitors, the program explores what the biggest ever attempt to install democracy in Africa means to the daily lives and prospects of the Congolese.