Strength in the Struggle

Kera

Kera cyane

Habayeho wowe

Habaho njewe

Habaho twebge

 

Batubgira bati

Wowe GAHUTU

Wowe Gatutsi

Nawe Gatwa

Nuko, biratangira

Turatandukana

 

 Turangana

Tutangira gusenyana

Tusengya imitima

 Tusenya Ingo

Tusenya Imiryango

Tusenya Ubushuti

Tusenya Igihugu

 Bamwe muri twe turicana

Bamwe muri twe turapfa

 Abandi barahunga

Twese, tusigarana agahinda

 

With broken hearts

No homes, no families, or friends

With exiled women and men

In countries that didn’t belong to them

It almost felt like an end

We started to pretend

That we were people who we weren’t

 

 We held passports of Ugandans,

 We held passports of Kenyans

We spoke NOT our mother tongue,

 And spoke Lingala,

Kirundi,

 Swahili

 and Luganda

We knew how to cook their foods,

 We knew how to dance their dances

We knew their cultures and traditions

We did it so well,

You couldn’t tell

The difference, if you tried

But the tears of the past that we cried

Just couldn’t be denied.

And the people outside didn’t help us

 You see,

There were NO political, or Economical, “interests” in Rwanda

So no wonder,

They left us alone

We had to figure it out, on our own.

 While they played pretend during the day

They lay awake during the night

 Constantly thinking of a vision

 They finally made a decision

It was time to make things right

Ironic how some times we have to fight…

For peace.

 

 Hey but we were tired of TEARS

 Sick of “sorry”

 Weak from worry

 And they made a choice,

To give back their people a voice

They strategized and analyzed on how to transform

 Put on their boots and uniform

 Marched towards their borders with persistence

 And ready for the risk resistance.

Listen my people were tired of pretense

 They knew the journey ahead was intense

 but they disregarded their dreams

Joined forces and made teams

 It was time to silence their people’s screams

They had NO heroes to call on,

 Because batman was too busy

Superman was scared –

And NO ONE else cared

So we had to become, our OWN heroes.

And somehow make millions out of zeroes

Something out of nothings

Cities out of ash

Dust into grass.

Listen, we didn’t just pass, our task

We excelled and expelled

Division,

Segregation,

Discrimination,

And corruption

We built a nation

Far beyond our imaginations

 Far beyond the world’s expectations.

It. Was. Sleepless. Nights. Of. Planning. And. Meetings

It was time,

 blood,

 sweat,

work,

And tears

It was SACRIFICE

And it came at an expensive price.

SO WE, SALUTE – YOU!

 

 You found strength in struggle

 Bravery in your bones

 Courage in your thoughts

You have hearts of KINGS

And for those who deny it

Tout le monde sait

Que les faits

Sont têtus

 

 You make us so proud to be Rwandese

 We even carry our flags over seas

 We might speak with accents

But don’t get it twisted please

We, are RWANDESE

Rwanda is the red to our lips,

The brown to our skin,

The white to my eyes,

The black to our hair.

RWANDA, is not just a place, it is who we are.

 

We are so proud to be Rwandese

That our bodies ache/itch for us to tattoo it, somewhere on our skin

In case you can’t feel it from within

We, are Rwandese

Because of you

We-are-one people

 One nation

One language

One culture

Who now carry, a Rwandan passport

With ONE identity

Yes, we are proud, to be Rwandese

 So proud that we would burn our breasts like Ndabaga

 Fight on the fore fronts like Fred Rwigema

Yes, we would go that far

For the Ishema,

Of Rwanda.

But we wouldn’t have been here without you

So for one more time

We, salute – you

Happy liberation day

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