60 year old Maria Mo (second from left) sits with pregnant women outside the health centre in Pemberiba, supported by DFID and Merlin NGO on the banks of the Congo River. Maria is the matron. Maria says 'We don't have enough equipment at the health centre. We do not even have mattresses for the patients, no bucket for collecting the foetus and blood during births and the labour table is very old and rusty, and we could really do with a microscope. What we would really like is a new maternity ward, in a separate building; the current facilities do not give any privacy. Things have improved since Merlin NGO started working with us, after starting to work here people in this community got vaccinations for the first time ever, drugs are delivered frequently and utilization rates are up. Merlin's help gives us motivation.'..