Under-qualified for the new textile jobs that drew them to Lesotho's capital city of Maseru, many young women from the famine-plagued countryside are surviving by selling sex, with and without a condom. "The first time I did it, I cried," said 22-year-old Lonia Ratesebe as she waits on her normal corner with her friend and housemate, Ana Dikeledi. "I felt guilty, but there was no food, no clothing and no jobs."

Thabo Thakalekoala, sub-editor of "Mopheme", a weekly English-language newspaper in Lesotho, has repeatedly been denied information relating to the treatment of Katleho Malataliana, a former member of the Lesotho Defence Force (LDF). Malataliana was arrested in November 1998, along with other LDF members, and later convicted of mutiny against senior officers and the government.

Like many developing countries, Lesotho gives high priority to improving its education system. The government's targets by 2011 include universal primary enrolment and improvements in higher secondary enrolment, coverage of early childhood provision and national levels of basic literacy. What implications do these targets have for teacher education? Can the country afford the teachers it needs?