A Clovis teen returned home last week after spending his winter break in the Philippines to help victims of Typhoon Haiyan.
The typhoon, which hit in early November, was one of the most powerful ever recorded. About 4.1 million people were displaced and 6,190 were reported dead, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
While there, 16-year-old Sam Safari, a junior at Clovis North High School, learned lessons he could've never learned in a textbook.
"I do have a global aspect of what the human responsibility is. I think that we're all related somehow. We all have a connection to each other, no matter where we live," Safari said.
For 10 days, he and his father, Dr. Michael Lynch, worked with the Philippines Red Cross to help those devastated by Typhoon Haiyan.
"The sights were horrible. But the Filipino people themselves were very resilient. They had smiles on their faces. They were very much in the Christmas spirit as if nothing had happened, nothing was wrong," Safari said.
The crew he was with saw thousands of patients in the mobile clinic set up by international Red Cross camps.
He and his father worked in Tacloban, a city that was decimated. Safari took vital signs for about 70 patients per day, before they were treated by a physician.
It's an experience that's inspired him to start a non-profit he named Vesta Global.
"Basically, what it's to do is send over vaccinations to third world countries, such as the Philippines, where the children are not getting these vaccinations," Safari said.
The trip broadened his horizons and helped him to appreciate life, his parents said.
"That's something that I really saw in Sam. He was thinking more," said Nancy Lynch, Sam's mother.
The ten-day trip is one that's made an impression in his life. He hopes to motivate others to make a difference.
"I challenge people of my generation to truly step outside of their comfort zone and help out as much as they can, whether it be in their community or worldwide."