India projects began in 2000 when I met Sanjeeva Pandey, first director of the Great Himalayan National Park (GHNP), and we began working together on Park issues and founded Friends of GHNP (FoGHNP). My Himachal (MH, a US non-profit) evolved out of the work of FoGHNP primarily focusing on community rural health issues with volunteers from Himachal Pradesh and abroad.