The Lisu minority group forms more than 90% of the population in the Nujiang region and they live mainly on the steep mountain slopes facing agricultural, health and educational challenges.

SMU Project CLIMB is working with Fujiang Development Foundation( FDF), a local NGO that engages in holistic development works supporting the Lisu people, on the Foster Care Programme (FCP). The FCP focuses on young adults orphans who lose one or both parents to land slides, drownings from river crossings and other accidents, as well as sicknesses. The programme ensures they live with loving relatives in a permanent home, with quality care and educational opportunities.

In the harsh and impoverished rural areas of Guizhou province, there is a local saying that goes : “Not 3 kilometers without a mountain, no 3 days without rain and no 3 pennies in one's pocket”.

SMU Project Make A Difference is about rural development. The close relations that students were able to forge with the rural folks has provided the team with the opportunities to learn first hand the rich culture of rural life captured in its cuisine, people as well as the social and environment challenges these locals face daily.

In 2007, SMU MAD assisted in the rebuilding of a small but crucial bridge in a poor village to reduce the highly common accidents of children falling and sometimes to their deaths due to poor design and extensive damage by vehicles. With the new bridge, it has meant a safe journey to school for at least 300 children in the village.

In 2008, the MAD team helped built a drinking water system that provided tap water to over 60 households in the village.

For 2009, the MAD team will be focused on improving the learning environment of Xiao Quan primary school. A solid wall will be built around the school which sits on top of a hill to ensure safety for children. New learning resources and aids will be introduced to the teachers to help them be more creative and effective in the teaching of English, the instilling of moral values in the children.

In Thailand, there were more than 100,000 elephants in the early 1900s. Today, there are only about 4,600 left, representing a 95% decline in the elephant population in just 100 years. To compound the issues of de-forestation, poaching and bad urban planning, elephants are still exported to zoos and circuses overseas, and are even victims of landmines.

The SMU Ambassadorial Corps team has adopted the elephant conservation cause in 2007 and has since led three teams to address a pressing need of the Park and its stakeholders.

In the tradition of previous SMU's Dare to Dream expeditions, which included beneficiaries from a disabled community, 12 SMU students will partner five hearing-impaired (HI) youth on a community service project. To better understand the silent world, the team is learning sign language to communicate and work with the HI youths involved in the expedition. They hope to learn about the challenges faced by the HI in their daily lives. In turn, the HI youths will be challenged beyond their handicap to serve the Sikkimese community. 

Together, the team will work closely with KCC, a community-based organisation to help conserve the environmental and cultural heritage of Yuksam. Through this, they hope to promote eco-tourism, thereby generating an alternative income source for the villagers. 

Two key projects have been lined up to achieve this goal:  

• Marketing Yuksam — the team will work with the village's Visitor Information Centre to help develop merchandising ideas and marketing strategies to woo eco-tourists to Yuksam.
• Archiving their visit — while there, they will also document their homestay programme, and use it as a testimonial for potential eco-tourists 

Project Argali, consisting of 14 SMU students, will partner SDF, a local NGO, whose principal objective is to improve the living standard and quality of life for the people of Sikkim.

Project Argali will be the first Singapore team to work with SDF's project — Borong Polok Handmade Paper Unit — a community-based project, which processes and manufactures chlorine-free paper from the Argali plant growing profusely in Borong Polok, South Sikkim, to provide a sustainable means of economic livelihood for the community without pollution or the cutting of trees.

They will support Borong Polok Handmade Paper Unit by documenting the manufacturing of handmade paper and revamp the SDF website information. They will also help with product development and the marketing plan of the paper products.