An experiment in community care, training Omanis with bachelor degrees in social work, psychology and education to act as psychiatric care givers in the community, is currently being developed in the Sultanate of Oman. This experiment is based on the Alma-Ata declaration to achieve Health For All by the Year 2000 (WHO, 1978) and WHO aspirations to move psychiatric care back into the community (WHO, 1990), and the fact that in many developing countries psychiatric care has remained on the fringe due to lack of resources and manpower.