‘Orphaned and vulnerable children’ (OVC) is an encompassing term used to describe children who are experiencing the effects of living in low resource and high HIV prevalence communities. However, within this social welfare category, there are different layers of vulnerability, raising questions about the capacity of generalized OVC responses to respond to the specific needs of groups of children falling within the OVC umbrella. This chapter examines children’s social representations of their HIV-positive, AIDS-affected (living with HIV-positive parents) or orphaned peers – unpacking similarities and differences in layers of vulnerability of children falling within the orphaned and vulnerable children (OVC) category.

Adopting the draw-and-write technique, we invited 63 Zimbabwean children (aged 10–12) to draw and write a story about a child who is either HIV-positive, AIDS-affected or orphaned. We conducted a thematic network analysis of emerging themes and examined statistically significant differences in representations of the three groups of children. Although HIV-positive, AIDS-affected or orphaned children were portrayed as facing many of the same struggles and having access to similar resources, there were also some important differences in how they were represented. For example, AIDS-affected and orphaned children were depicted as active social agents, and held in high esteem because of their role in sustaining ‘broken’ homes. By contrast, HIV-positive children were portrayed as weak, suffering poor health and stigmatized. Orphaned children, more than both HIV-positive and AIDS-affected children, were depicted as sad, and as neglected by non-caring and abusive guardians. Children of the HIV epidemic would benefit from both a more generalized OVC response and a continued need to unpack and address their unique needs. There is a need for practitioners, to combine the strengths of both approaches and promote a mix of targeted and generalized responses.