Almost thirty years of collaboration with colleagues in Africa have taught me that the key to conducting successful research and developing culture-sensitive health promotion programs is to partner with, and truly involve, local researchers and community members in the process. This paper is based on five rapid assessments (RAP) initiated by UNAIDS and carried out in high-burden countries in Africa. Their aim was to better understand communities’ perceptions of HIV and PLWHA, of the maternal and HIV health services available, while focusing on the culture and gender barriers to treatment for vertical transmission of HIV (PMTCT), as well as on suggestions to enhance culture and gender-sensitive maternal and HIV health care in their communities. Thus, from the planning stage of each one of these projects, community participation was ensured, beginning with a basic needs assessment, which included the development of the research tools, their translation into local languages, as well as their cultural and gender adaptations Team building was an essential part of this process, especially in the case of qualitative rapid assessment (RAP) - a highly participatory method of investigation - which includes a relatively large number of team members, many of whom are community members and not trained researchers. For this to succeed different tools were developed, such as small group exercises and games to get to know each other better, which enhanced trust, empathy, and collaboration among team members. In addition, intense role playing was one of the main techniques used throughout the team’s training process. Our discussion will highlight some challenges, including ethical ones, as well as the practical solutions adopted during the team building and training process of the RAP teams in the African context.