Dancing around the same spot? land reform and Ngos in Zimbabwe – ! e case of sos children’s villages

! is paper discusses the rural-based operations of an international NGO in Mashonaland Central province, Zimbabwe. ! e aim is to highlight the contingent variation of NGO practices within de" ned limits. It does this through ‘thick description’ of the NGO of focus, the SOS Children’s Village, and compares its ‘handling‘ of the transforming countryside with the response of two other NGOs. It concludes by suggesting some conceptual points in understanding organizational dispositions of NGOs.