I.

Drainage Canal dugay nang gihandum, nahuman karong adlawa

Pagidusar, pagdawat ang seremonyas

Ikaw, ako, kitang tanan nabulahan

Bag-ong terminal, bag-ong merkado dili na mabahaan.

(Drainage Canal, long been dreamt of; just been completed today

Turned-over, accepted during the ceremony

Surely, you and I, and everybody else will all be fortunate of

New terminal and new market will never be flooded again)

II.

Drainage Canal daghan sakit gi-hipos.

Dengue, Hilanat, psoriasis, kagid, gilatos.

Schistosomiasis, dako nga tiyan gipahuyos.

Uban pang mga sakit iyang gipus-pos, gilutos.

(Drainage Canal fixing problems of sicknesses

Spanking dengue, fever, psoriasis and skin diseases.

Schistosomiasis, enlarged stomachs deflated

Other sickness bashed, other sickness whacked)

III.

Drainage Canal dakong naitabang.

Ang huyong-huyong gihimong kamad-an.

Baho nga tubig, lapok, gikankan.

Gidala sa suba, gibanlas sa kadagatan.

(Drainage Canal a tremendous help

Soft muddy areas dried in no time

Foul smelling water, mud, excavated

Brought into the rivers, splashed into the seas)

IV.

We see the change around us.

A choice, clearly we were not mistaken.

We thank the Lord for giving us a chance

To choose drainage canal, we needed, the most important.

V.

Miabot ang laing hinabang nga mao ang eskwelahan.

Pasilungan ang mga magtutudlo ug ang kabataan.

Dinhi ibu-bo ang kaalaman, isilsil ang maayong pamatasan.

Daghang Salamat sa AusAID among gipahumslan

Ikalipay namo uban sa mga ginikanan.

(Here comes another aid, a school building

Providing shade to teachers and students alike

Here is where knowledge will be dispensed, good conduct, inculcated

Thanks to AusAID, we will surely benefit of

All of us including the parents are rejoicing. )

VI.

Maraming Salamat sa Kalahi-CIDSS sa himala.

Salamat sa volunteers at mga mangagawa.

Init at ulan hindi namin pinansin

Alikabok, baho, putik aming tiniis.

(Thank you so much Kalahi-CIDSS of the miracle

Thank you to all the volunteers and workers

We never gave in to the heat of the sun and the pouring rain

Enduring dusts, foul smells, and muddiness.)

VII.

Walay sapayan, kaning kalidsod among giagian,

Pagalagad ug serbisyo nga gikinahanglan

Aron molambo ug mausab ning Kapatagan.

Panginoong Diyos imo kaming gitabangan, Salamat sa tanan.

(Thanks to the hardship we have gone through

We endured the work and services needed

To ensure growth and development in Kapatagan

Lord God you helped and provided for us, we thank you for everything.)

VIII.

Ang panginabuhian mi sulbong.

Daghan nang mga hayop, daghan nang mga tanom.

Minus na ang sakit, wala nay taong ga tikongkong.

Maayong panglawas, daghang makaon, milambo na ang panahon.

(Livelihood is in full bloom

Livestock and vegetation are a boom

Sickness has been limited, no one is in pain and suffering

Good times are rolling, we have good health, and abundance of food.)

IX.

Mabuhay Kalahi-CIDSS project, magpadayon.

Mabuhay Kapatagn, daghan kausaban.

(Long live Kalahi-CIDSS, keep it up.

Long live Kapatagan, continue progressing.)

 

– The Auhor, Mrs. Tomasa Baptista Galbinez is a retired elementary English teacher from Brgy. Poblacion, Kapatagan, Lanao del Norte. At the ripe age of 83, she is still an avid volunteer for the Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan – Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services (Kalahi-CIDSS) for Brgy. Poblacion. This poem was delivered during the Cycle 3 Inauguration of their Drainage Canal Sub-project and their AusAID-funded One classroom building where Mrs. Galbinez was asked to share her experience in volunteering for the project.