Pangarap at hinagpis : mga awit ng kababaihang maralita = Dreams and woes : songs of poor women / patnugot = editor, Aida F. Santos.

We in GABRIELLA have long dreamed of documenting the lives, small joys and big dreams, as well as the sufferings of our members from the basic masses in their own language. Each time we hear them speak passionately of their experiences in workshops and seminars, we could not help but notice the poetry that emanates from their speeches and dialogues. Their words touched us deeply. The death of literature by women on women has long been emphasized and there has been many efforts by women's organizations to rectify this. However, lamentable still is the absence of literature created by the women of the basic masses. The idea to make this into a book project was concertized when a peasant woman broke into a song in one of the many solidarity sessions we have with peasant women. The song she created was a lullaby for her child which also spoke of her frustrations on missing an important meeting of her organization. She had to stay in the house and take care of her baby. The message struck a chord inside us. We felt a sense of pride foe she, an 'ordinary' peasant woman, could weave such beautiful poetry about her 'ordinary' life. That song inspired us to make our dream a reality. --From the introduction