Centro Nueva Creación- Goodlands Camp

Student Interns-

Amanda Benfante, Makayla Brown

Amanda Benfante - A Series of Haikus

I chose to write a series of haikus representing 3 stages of a community member’s life. The first poem represents his childhood. He moved to the North Philadelphia from the Dominican Republic at the age of 4. During his elementary school years, he was a student at Centro where he found a sense of community and learned to appreciate his Latina heritage. He was introduced to Bomba, a Puerto Rican style of music and dance which inspired his love for music as an art form. The second poem represents his teen years. He described this time as a part of his life where he felt lost. He had some trouble with the law and needed support from community programs to get back to the life he wanted for himself. The third poem represents his life now. He is now a young adult and is in college studying music. He also works at Centro where he teaches dance to the students. He says that he wants to provide a support system to the children and to teach them to importance of finding strength within themselves and resiliency through the music from the movie Encanto.

Makayla Brown - "The Goodlands"

Good people band together to make a community

Outsiders view The Goodlands as the Badlands

Oneness will aid in ridding Fairhill of its bad

Drugs are the neighborhood’s greatest enemy

Love amongst neighbors is the neighborhood’s greatest strength

Avoiding and ignoring danger is a challenge for the youth

No one knows the future, but many hope for positive change

Dancing, playing, laughing, and learning keeps the kids occupied

Someday it will be seen as The Goodlands