How do we account for the close personal bonds and deeply caring relationships forged by educators with learners in many adult educational encounters? The literature is relatively silent on the emotional and relational basis to adult educator work. This is a serious silence, given the stressful nature of adult education in developing contexts such as South Africa and the relative vulnerability of such educators. This article addresses this gap by exploring a range of theoretical and conceptual frameworks which may help navigate the relational and affective landscape of adult educator work as care work. Here the frameworks of African perspectives on learning, feminist perspectives on learning, expanded conceptions of transformative learning and Freire's pedagogy of love are considered. The second part of the article shares some findings on adult educators' emotional and relational bonds with learners from a study of the Human Rights Democracy and Development project and discusses these practices in light of the theories discussed. A summative table of the various frameworks together with a discussion of their implications for adult education practice, research and policy forms part of this latter section.