Volunteer work and the lives of those caring for people with HIV/AIDS

Objective: To present and discuss how volunteer work impacts the suffering of volunteers with HIV who care for other people with the disease. Method: This is a qualitative and descriptive study, developed in an NGO for people with HIV, in the city of São Luís, Maranhão. Data were produced through 14 semi-structured interviews, and ninety-six hours of participant observation, recorded in a field diary in 2014/2015. The thematic analysis discussed volunteer work, life and work, life at work and missionary motivation. Results: missionary motivation is the driving force for working in this area and valuing others is a basic principle. Motivations based on religious philosophies characterize solidarity by similarity, in which followers share the same values. This strength is what keeps volunteers at the institution dealing with the pain and suffering of others, often equals in illness. Final considerations: There is a need to create other forms of work, or a solidarity economy, in order to sustain the permanence of voluntary work in the NGO, in the face of external pressures for economic subsistence.