Akong Rinpoche fostered the practice of Traditional Tibetan Medicine (TTM), both in Tibet and in Europe. In 2004 along with Dr. Lobsang Dhonden Soktsang and Dr. Tamdin S Bradley he founded The British Association of Traditional Tibetan Medicine (BATTM) whose aim is to preserve and promote the unique system of traditional Tibetan medicine. In 1994 Akong Rinpoche succeeded in bringing Tibet's most eminent traditional doctor, Khenpo Troru Tsenam, to teach the foundations of TTM on a four-year programme at the newly established Tara College of Traditional Tibetan Medicine at Samye Ling. Clinics were established, and legal recognition of Tibetan medicine, as a "herbal medicine", obtained in the UK. In Tibet, under the auspices of ROKPA, he established TTM clinics and trained over 600 TTM doctors, many of whom had attended schools established for orphans. Every ROKPA doctor made an agreement to return to serve in their own villages for at least six years after graduation. He further created a programme to preserve the herbs used in Tibetan medicine that new demand was driving close to extinction, even going so far as to bring three young doctors to the Royal Botanical Garden Edinburgh to study horticulture and biodynamics In 2009, Akong gave a presentation on Tibetan medical treatments using mantras and prayers at the Seventh International Congress on Traditional Asian Medicine held in Bhutan. Charity In the field of charity, he co-founded ROKPA International with Lea Wyler and her father Dr, Viet Wyler in 1980. ROKPA is Tibetan for "help" or "friend". Its motto is "Helping where help is needed." An international humanitarian organisation, it works principally but not exclusively in Tibet, Nepal, and Zimbabwe. The charitable aims of ROKPA are: "To promote Buddhism and to foster non-sectarian inter-religious dialogue and understanding. To provide medical care and therapy. To provide education. To relieve poverty.". Many of the projects described in the previous paragraphs were established through ROKPA, but there were also large-scale environmental projects, as well as numerous projects to preserve Tibetan language and culture in Tibet. In Nepal, the focus was directed mainly towards feeding the homeless, and with providing a home, education, and vocational training for street-kids. In Zimbabwe and South Africa ROKPA worked to provide food, vocational training, therapy, and economic opportunity from 1994 onwards, especially to help those whose lives had been devastated by the HIV Aids crisis and political turmoil. In August 2011 Akong Rinpoche was