The following 'think piece' is a collection of observations selected principally from a very rapid September 2003 tour of Malawi, Kenya, Mozambique, Tanzania and Uganda, recent fieldwork in Botswana, Rwanda and Zimbabwe, and UNESCO Nairobi cluster workshops on education and teachers held in Kigali and Kampala early in 2003. The 2003 tour confirmed previous impressions about where we are and where we need to go. Many of the observations and comments on HIV and teacher education are personal: they are meant to challenge our perceptions of what we are doing and how we are doing it. I hope they will lead to a more precise analysis of the content, implementation, and outcomes of our preservice and inservice HIV and teacher education programmes, and indeed of the priorities we have designated in the fight against HIV/AIDS over the past 20 years. I hope they will help us to 'think outside the box' in order to be more creative in saving lives and protecting our communities.