Mi ja-m oiá kma vida li tá mut difísil
 Má solusom ka emigrá pa bá sofré
 Na solabánk di mar, dbóx d'grit d'komandant
 I s'bo tchgá na térra é pa lová Nós Senhor Jezus Krist.
 Ranja-m trabói m-kré fiká
 Mi m-ka mesté pasaport
 Nhas dokumént é:
 Nxada, martel, má nhas dos bróss.
 Ka-nhos pintcha-m pa-m bai,
 Fidj ka ta kriá na ninhu sem pai.
 Nha pai skrevê-m
 Pa-m bá tratónd d'nhas papelada
 Má nha korasom
 Ja fla kma nãu : kaminh di bai !
 Má també m’ka podé, fká li d'riba parbóx
 Sempr ta spiá trabói, má um brók d'kaza k’é pa-m morá.
 Ranja-m trabói k’é pa-m ganhá
 Akel pãu di kada dia
 Pok li-dént é tcheu, fortuna la fóra é fantazia.
 Ka-nhos pintcha-m pa-m bai,
 Fidj ka ta kriá na ninhu sem pai.

I know so well that life here is very hard,
 But the solution is certainly not to emigrate, to go and risk your life
 On the sea’s mighty waves and suffering the captain’s wrath:
 With all that, if you arrive safe and sound,
 you can give thanks to God!
 Let me work, I want to stay here
 I don’t need a passport,
 I already have all the documents I need:
 My hoe, my hammer and my two arms.
 Don’t force me to leave,
 You can’t raise children in a nest deserted by their father.
 My father wrote to advise me
 To get together the necessary papers
 But my heart has already said no to the option of leaving.
 On the other hand, I cannot stay here, toing and froing,
 Looking for work that is impossible to find and an imaginary
 Little house to live in.
 Give me some work, just enough to earn my
 Daily bread,
 The little we have here is already a great deal.
 The fortune that is meant to be waiting for us elsewhere is nothing
 But a dream.
 Don’t make me leave,
 You can’t raise children in a nest deserted by their father.