What do you do if, like Wellcome Trust medical workers in Africa, you suddenly discover that your cultural baggage is proving hard to bear for the people you are trying to help? That, in local custom, your logo of two entwined snakes foretells death? That the recipients of your therapeutic skills suspect you of giving their blood to evil spirits?

These were some of the unpleasant findings of research carried out by the Wellcome Trust in Kenya. Trying to get to grips with malaria and its transmission, the medical workers were unaware of the way the local people regarded them and their efforts.

In response, they developed and implemented a new approach to community engagement, which has evolved into a programme of partnership and consultation between them and the local communities. The two-way dialogue that has resulted benefits not only the local people, but also the science being carried out amongst them.