So what is the answer? After all, there is a genuine dilemma here. Pay for the textbooks and you perpetuate the Mugabe-Tsvangirai sense of priorities. Hold back the funds and the government of Zimbabwe will not develop a conscience and find the money for children to get an education. Instead, the kids will go without books and Mugabe and Tsvangirai will carry on exactly as before. It’s also worth remembering that no DFID money goes directly into Zimbabwean government coffers: all the funding is channelled via the UN or international development agencies.