The Himalayan Medical Foundation (HMF) was founded by Dr. Greg Rabold from Colorado, who was inspired to assist monks in Tibetan Buddhist monasteries after seeing the terrible suffering there during a visit in 1993. The Benchen Monastery is a lively monastic community in Swyambunath, a suburb of Kathmandu. It was there that the venerable Tenga Rinpoche, a Buddhist monk, founded a ‘free clinic’ in 1994. He did so with the aim of serving the medical needs of the nuns and the monks in the monastery, and the local community, which comprised both native Nepalese and Tibetan refugees. As the clinic started to grow and become larger, the monastery formed a partnership with The Himalayan Medical Foundation (HMF). Benchen Clinic is now one of the eleven clinics around Kathmandu that are overseen by HMF.