Human Trafficking Protestor, House Builder in Mexico, Tutoring Club Founder and Varsity Athlete, This Whiz Kid Does It All

Rather than sitting on the couch and taking some much needed rest and relaxation during spring break, junior Sarah Singh, 17, will be traveling with approximately 110 other students to Ensenada, Mexico, to help impoverished communities rebuild their lives.

Just when it seems like all of today’s youth are consumed by video games, social media and the Internet, students like Singh come along who restore faith in the future generation. On top of her busy school schedule, she has managed to dedicate her few spare hours to volunteering incessantly and even founded her own tutoring club.

“She’s a driven leader, but also a servant who helps others,” said Carlos DeVitis, the leader of the Ensenada spring break trip coordinated by . “Students from all groups in high school are able to connect to her.”

Singh will be traveling to Ensenada for the third year in a row. And rather than using the dollars at the mall, Singh and the other students will be paying $500 themselves to travel across the border.

“It’s a great get-away for many of the students and to connect within the group,” DeVitis said. “But we want to make sure we’re not the imperialistic, white Americans. In fact, I’d say we need them more than they need us, as a way for us to open our eyes to global opportunities.”

Last year, Singh and her group added an entire room to a one-room home where four women lived. They also helped fix the roof.

“It’s definitely a great way to broaden your perspective,” Singh said of volunteering. “High school is so much about how you can advance yourself and compete against everyone else. But this allows me to live into a bigger purpose than what I’m learning in school.”

Singh added that she was excited to have a more influential role as one of the senior members.

“You can’t fix everything, there’s always something more,” she said. “But I’m excited to help guide some of the newer kids.”

DeVitis said that the trip helps eliminate typical teenage preoccupations with who's dating whom and instead focus on "friendships based on a common concern for humanity."

Singh’s volunteering knows no geographical boundaries. A few years ago during the Civil War in Uganda, she worked to raise funds and awareness about the “invisible children.” Now that that civil war has come to a close, she has shifted her efforts to the Congo.

Singh also focuses volunteers right here in the Bay Area. She started a human trafficking awareness club at Sequoia and is currently writing a paper about the plight that is occurring in San Francisco. With accounts from the police, the FBI and even the victims themselves, Singh has devoted herself to shedding light on this often dismissed issue. She said tens of thousands of women are trafficked into San Francisco every year, and the city’s densely concentrated population and large size make it easy for these abuses to go unnoticed.

“It breaks my heart,” she said. “It’s just so difficult to pinpoint because it’s an underground industry.”

Here in Redwood City, she started a tutoring club and was able to gather enough like-minded students to make the trek to McKinley Institute of Technology once a week and help the middle schoolers in all subjects.

“Volunteering is an outlet for me, but it’s also what I really enjoy doing,” Singh said. “I try to squeeze in time when I can because I know it’s worth it.”