The AIDS pandemic raging across sub-Saharan Africa does not stop with personal carnage. It also threatens whole systems, including what is arguably the most critical for the region's future--education. Where rates of HIV infection are high, as they are in much of southern and eastern Africa, experts warn, the effects on social stability and education are so great that young people are being robbed of hope, and national development is being stunted. In a final merciless twist, declines in education reduce the chances of arresting the pandemic, since schools may be the best way to reach uninfected young people with the information, skills, and attitudes that ultimately protect them. Education can literally be a lifesaver for children who must grow up quickly--especially girls, whether by enabling them to learn how to make a living or to protect themselves against the virus. The crisis of HIV/AIDS has way more to do with people in schools than physicians in hospitals.