Children of our time - How two nongovernmental organizations mobilize their work regarding orphaned HIV positive children

Abstract: The purpose of this study is to compare how two non-governmental organizations (NGO‟ s) with different backgrounds and value systems can function when it comes to mobilization of work with orphaned HIV positive children The ambition with the study has been to find out whether the value bases reflect how the organizations view HIV/AIDS and work with children, and how they thereby mobilize the daily practical work with and around the children. This study is of descriptive characteristic with a qualitative approach in which six interviews has been carried out at two different organizations, and in which the format of the interview questions have been semi structured. The overall result of the study shows that the differences in backgrounds and value systems do not considerably affect the respective organizations‟ mobilization and work with HIV positive children. Also, the results show that there are certain common themes and strategies for the organizations‟ mobilization work. The difference that has been discerned is that the organization that is secular on paper criticizes the South African government more strongly than the organization with a pronounced Catholic value basis. With the help of the theory of social mobilization, we have shown how the organizations mobilize their work with HIV positive children. We show how the two organizations cooperate with various parties and engage in different networks with the aim of strengthening the children and their next of kin. An important aspect from the results is how two non-governmental organizations can contribute with valuable knowledge, and engage people in the work with e.g. preventing the spread on the devastating HIV/AIDS pandemic in South Africa.