Phil Liuzzo 2012
Leadership, Action, Reflection, Friendship - All Part of ASB El Salvador
March 22, 2011
Philip Liuzzo, a junior in the Poole College of Management’s business administration program, and Sean Klemm, a senior in business administration and Spanish, co-led a team of 13 other NC State students on a week-long trip to El Salvador as part of the Center for Student Leadership Ethics & Public Service (CSLEPS) Alternative Service Break program. It wasn't their first time traveling together.
Two years ago, Liuzzo and Klemm had traveled to Belize on their first Alternative Spring Break (ASB) experience, along with Adam Culley, faculty advisor and assistant director of CSLEPS. They went to Belize to work with an organic, fair-trade cacao organization called the Toledo Cacao Growers Association, and built a drying facility for the farmers.
“It was my first time out of the country, and after that experience I knew I wanted to continue to pursue service endeavors and continue to work with people in Latin America,” Klemm said.. “So being back in Central America, leading a service trip with those two was like everything coming full circle. ASB is sort of designed to do that. It has had a profound impact on my life and I am who I am today because of the Alternative Spring Break experiences I have had.”
Service Learning and Leadership Development
ASB is a service-learning experience – coordinated through NC State’s Center for Student Leadership, Ethics and Public Service (CSLEPS) – that enables students to provide direct service to a community while being immersed in its culture and customs. Each team is led by student team leaders and is accompanied by a faculty advisor. During the trip, team members participate in a variety of cultural, educational, recreational and reflective activities that enhance their service experience.
“I had such an amazing experience my freshman year that I decided to go back (last year),” Liuzzo said of his experiences in Belize. “I then decided at the end of last year to apply to be a team leader for the trips in 2011. After an application and interview process, I was selected.” When applying for the leadership role, Liuzzo had requested an assignment that emphasized “hands on” work. He was selected to be a team leader for the El Salvador trip, working with the Fuller Center for Housing which has had projects in El Salvador and other countries for several years.
“I had hoped to learn more about the issue of substandard housing both here and abroad and how it affects the different populations and societies,” Liuzzo said. “I also wanted to learn more about the people of El Salvador and the way they live.”
He did both. His team was assigned to work on a building that included four single-family units, each with a living room and two bedrooms, working side by side with people of the El Salvador communities.
Building Homes, Relationships
“Working alongside the families is one of the most important aspects of the trip and is something I truly looked forward to,” Liuzzo said, adding that it means more to work side by side with members of a community than just to do a project and leave the site.
“You get a much better internal feeling when you do something for someone you have built a relationship with,” Liuzzo said. “By working with the neighbors and owners of the houses, you feel as though you are part of the community and you feel like your work is going a much longer way.”
Klemm also had applied for a leadership role with CSLEPS and learned he had been accepted in May 2010 while traveling in Ecuador. “I got an email from Adam saying I would be leading a trip to Central America and that Phil would be my co-leader and Adam would be my advisor. I don’t think I stopped smiling the entire day,” he said, a reflection of the friendships that had developed among the three of them during their previous ASB travels.
“It was a lot of work, both planning and while in El Salvador,” Klemm said, “but it was incredible. We joked around from day one that we were ‘The Dream Team’ but in all honesty this trip was everything I could have ever hoped or dreamed for, and then some. Working with Phil and Adam was fantastic; we couldn’t have asked for a better group and the people and culture of El Salvador were amazing. It was an absolutely unforgettable experience.”
Concrete, Culture and Reflection
For the first two days, “we poured a concrete foundation for two of the units,” Liuzzo said. The third day, they poured 10,000 pounds of concrete for the walls. They finished their construction project on the fourth day, and had time to visit some of the sites and experience the culture and recreational activities. That included trips to the Mayan ruins, surfing lessons, a hike to a volcano, and attending services at a nondenominational church.
The team leaders and student participants also took time each day to reflect on what they were doing and experiencing in El Salvador. Liuzzo and Klemm planned those reflection meetings in the weeks prior to the trip, asking the students to think about what they saw and did each the day. A key focus of the reflections was to consider the differences in housing conditions between people in El Salvador and the students’ own situations at home, looking at aspects of social injustice as part of substandard housing. The students were also challenged to consider differences in attitudes about happiness and privilege.
Liuzzo said he learned about some of the issues that the people face in El Salvador, and their needs for projects and services. ‘I resolved to look more at El Salvador as a country, to see if there’s a need for my skills there, post graduation,” he said. He plans to explore further the Fuller Center for Housing’s Home for the Heart program.
“I’ve been on two of these trips as a participant, and now seeing it from the leadership role, it helped me to appreciate the program more,” Liuzzo said. “Taking 13 people to another country – yes, it was a lot of work but looking back, it was my best experience,’ he said. “I learned a lot about myself through the reflections beforehand, while there and since coming back.”
“We were able to build strong, lasting relationships with one another as well as the people we met and interacted with in El Salvador, which is one of my favorite parts of the ASB experience,” Klemm said. “I could not have asked for a better co-leader than Phil,” he said. “We are very close friends, but we have a great working relationship as well, which is both unique and extremely effective. Phil’s strengths balance out for my weaknesses, and vice versa.
“When I tell my children or grandchildren about building houses in El Salvador in college one spring break, which I’m sure I will, I will be sure to include what I learned, the new things I saw and experienced, and the service work done. But what I will remember most will be leading 13 students abroad with one of my best friends who continually inspires me to be the best leader, friend and person I possibly can be.”
Photos provided by Phil Liuzzo and Sean Klemm.
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