Community-university partnerships, if they are to be successful, must be firmly grounded in the context in which they take place. This paper describes the ways in which the University of Gezira in the Sudan from its very beginning was built on an understanding of rural communities. The university's Faculty of Medicine built its training around partnerships that expose students to a critical analysis of community health problems and shows them how those problems can be addressed through partnership. The paper concludes with a discussion of the challenges and opportunities for expanding this approach throughout a university.