The article analyzes the process of training community health agents in a community in the western zone of Rio de Janeiro, carried out under a project designed to build participatory approaches in health. Based on the ethnographic observation of community and educational practices and by using questionnaires, the study aimed to contextualize the development of the course and analyze the participants' view about the expectations and learning of knowledge on health and the environment. The data show that the course met part of the students' expectations and resulted in the strengthening of local community networks and in some of the participants' social capital. The article aims to contribute to an anthropology of the educational activities, undertaken in formal and informal spaces, both within the context of the formulation and development of such actions and in the vision of the different players involved in the educational programs.
community workers; ethnography; health education; environment; agent training