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This article describes an innovative project conducted by the Union of Palestinian Medical Relief Committees to develop and operate a community health workers' school. The Union, in response to inadequate healthcare facilities in the majority of rural communities, developed a new conception of health and healthcare services in rural areas based on the idea of health as a social construction. It was argued that many health problems could be prevented by alleviating poverty and poor education, and facilitating the involvement of local communities in the delivery of appropriate healthcare. As the Union achieved the gradual development of permanent healthcare centres there was a need to train new types of healthcare staff - community health workers. Through the examination of other community health worker training experiments, it was decided to train women from the community at a non-university level. The author describes the implementation phase which involved the development of job descriptions and a model of healthcare in teams, the assessment of the skills and knowledge required, and the process of curriculum development. An outline of the training course is provided and includes the selection of students, the course duration and content, curriculum, teaching staff, the creation of a supervisory committee for the school's educational activities and training, student evaluation, and other training courses in various areas of community work available at the school.