Objective: To describe the design, validation, and implementation of the education material The world of malaria: let´s learn to handle it in the community. Methods: The development of the educational material was carried out in the urban area of Buenaventura (main city in the Colombian Pacific coast) in 1995. The design was based on the results of a knowledge, beliefs, and practices study in the city. By using the PRECEDE- PROCEED MODEL strategy, community groups were brought together with the research team to design the materials. Results: The educational materials were designed according to cultural and ethnographic characteristics of the population studied. These materials are table games, comics, videotapes and cassettes, magazines, altogether in a black bag called «The world of malaria: let´s learn to handle it in the community». Conclusions: This innovative educational material shows that interventions in public health should be based on results from scientific projects, because control strategies are based on local realities.