Ekitakumenya (The Robert Katende Story)

Nelson Mandela once said,
"Difficulty makes some men,
And breaks others, I believe struggle comes to all men.
And if you hold under that fire,
You'll come out as Gold."

Some other great man might've said that one,
RRUU, yeah, Ekitakumenya kyikuzimba,
Difficulty either makes you or breaks you.

Ekitakumenya kyikuzimba,
The struggle that doesn't break you will make you.

Ekitakumenya kyikuzimba,
Difficulty either makes you or breaks you.

Ekitakumenya kyikuzimba, Yeah.

Mommy had a sugar daddy,
But the sugar stopped flowing when my mother had me.
'Cause Daddy's suddenly aware he has another family.
Mommy can't deal, takes me to live with my cuzz and granny.

For me and juls, she'd go to the bushes, picks, and sells bananas just to feed us,
Over sixty but she loves us madly.
Simple life got me wishing it'd never change...
That's when Museveni and the rebels came,
Government and rebel forces trading gunshots.
Kiboga's Luwero's Center so we have to move spots.
Two years on the run,
With rebels bussing their guns.
Probably would've affected me more but I was so young.
Government lets go of Luwero, it's safe to come back.
We return to our home only to find it ransacked.

Ateh Kigenda mumaaso, kigenda maaso, it goes on and on.

Ekitakumenya kyikuzimba,
Difficulty either makes you or breaks you.

Ekitakumenya kyikuzimba,
The struggle that doesn't break you will make you.

Ekitakumenya kyikuzimba,
Difficulty either makes you or breaks you.

Ekitakumenya kyikuzimba, Wow.

Couldn't recognize her when I first saw her,
This angel in a nurse uniform.
Running to me crying, lifting me to the sky.
And at seven years, I hear my name for the first time,
Robert Katende...

Picture my bottom position, having to make do,
Life's a field that I had to dig my way through.
When you have nothing, so you have nothing to relate to.
It had me thinking as I'm digging, tilling the ground,
What will my life be like ten years from now?
Will I be stuck here like this hoe in this garden?
Will anyone ever welcome me home as a father?

Ateh Kigenda mumaaso, kigenda maaso, it goes on and on.

Ateh Kigenda mumaaso, kigenda maaso, it goes on and on.

Ekitakumenya kyikuzimba,
Difficulty either makes you or breaks you.

Ekitakumenya kyikuzimba, Look.

These children never had daddies,
They're either orphans or they're from broken families.
It seems they're always facing problems that could get them checked.
Their whole world is like an endless game of chess,
Not chess like being chased but chess the board game.
And that's something I could relate to, my struggle was the same.

But see they could take my porridge but they couldn't take my pride.
Even though if I could afford the poison I would've died,
'Cause the struggles made me start to feel like the bottom of the barrel.
But on that soccer field, I was on top of the world.
It's like there's nothing I couldn't do when the whistle blew.
On the pitch in that jersey, I was invincible.
It almost even killed me, soccer put me in a coma,
I gave my life to Christ before it was all over.
And Christianity showed me that I always had a daddy.
Went from struggle to victory, now there's nothing I can't be.

Kigenda mumaaso, kigenda maaso,
I overcame the struggle, now I'm living in the glory.

Kigenda mumaaso, kigenda maaso,
I believe this is only the beginning of the story, yeah.

Ekitakumenya kyikuzimba,
Difficulty either makes you or breaks you.

Ekitakumenya kyikuzimba,
The struggle that doesn't break you will make you.

Ekitakumenya kyikuzimba,
Difficulty either makes you or breaks you.

Ekitakumenya kyikuzimba, Yeah.

Shout out to Aethan, Samurae, Martha Small, C19.

Ekitakumenya kyikuzimba,
Maker of a Prophet, Mira Nair, Robert Katende.

Kigenda mu masso, It goes on and on.

Ekitakumenya kyikuzimba.