Patron Saint of Hopeless Cases!

Growing up in an African family with strong christian values, I learned quickly about the need to pray because - prayer is the master key. Right? My christian values were further concretized when I enrolled in a Catholic secondary school and remained a student in the institution for 7 consecutive years. During these years, I learned a lot and grew mentally and spiritually stronger. I must confess some of the things I learned at school, were learned the hard way, but the bottom line is - I learned them. One of the numerous religious lessons (some "unholy" things were learned too) I learned at school was the fact that devotion to the holy apostles should be cherished. Do you know the apostle St. Jude Thaddeus? Do you know he's the patron saint of hopeless and desperate cases? I got to learn about this in an unlikely fashion. You might be interested to know.

Back in secondary school (Form 5), English Language lessons were one of those lessons I didn't look forward to; not because I didn't like the course. It's fair to say the teacher (may he rest in peace) was a little bit too challenging. He expected nothing but the best from all of us and usually, he didn't like to repeat his instructions. I always remember the word, "in fact" - many people negligently spell it as one word. I'd also never forget the word, "cannot". Back in the days, misspelling such words (among other things) would incur the "wrath" of my English language teacher and qualify you as a hopeless case - a "Saint Jude's case." I was not the best student, but I was never a hopeless case in English Language. Coming to think of it, maybe I was in Mathematics. Were you a hopeless case under any circumstance?

When we were preparing for the General Certificate Examination (G.C.E), English Language was one of the compulsory subjects. Every student wanted to validate it, but according to my teacher, there were some students in the class who'd not validate the subject - without the help of the patron Saint of hopeless and desperate cases.

However, when the G.C.E results were published, I was happy to learn that my classmates - the "St. Jude cases", validated English Language. I guess they took the teacher's advise and prayed tirelessly to St. Jude Thaddeus.

This is how I learned about St. Jude Thaddeus. His feast day is October 28 and since my secondary school days, I pray to St. Jude, when faced with a hopeless or grave circumstance.

Are you in a hopeless situation? Are you in desperate need of a grave necessity? I encourage you to pray to St. Jude Thaddeus - the Patron Saint of Hopeless and Desperate Cases. He'd intercede for you.

As usual, I look forward to reading your comments and please, let me know when St. Jude Thaddeus helps you out of that hopeless and desperate situation!

Here are some Prayers to Saint Jude.

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New Trend in the Helsinki Metro

You don't have to be an expert in geography or world affaires to know that Helsinki is the capital city of Finland. Well, now that you know, there's a new trend in the Helsinki metro - there're beggars on board! Recently, I've been taking the subway a lot from the Mellunmäki area to Kamppi. Each time I boarded the metro last week, I had to deal with people soliciting alms. I'm aware of the fact that this is no news in some parts of the world, including countries like France, Italy, etc., but I must tell you - in Finland, this is a new trend.

One morning, I boarded the metro and the moment I secured my seat, a sorry-looking fellow approached me. He had something written (in Finnish) on a piece of paper, which for obvious reasons I could not understand. But there was one word I recognized - Moldova. Could the beggars on board the Helsinki metro be from Moldova?

I was shocked by the sight of a beggar in a metro in Helsinki, so much so that I could not immediately react when he stretched his hand towards me - expecting a donation. The gentleman didn't seem to have time to waste because the moment I hesitated, he moved on to the next person. But one thing was clear, everyone was surprised and no one was giving him any money.

When it became evident to him that Monday was not his lucky day, he approached me again and said something in Spanish. Like Finnish, I don't understand Spanish, but I heard him mention "20 cents" (about 0.27 USD). I could see desperation in his eyes so I reached for my wallet and gave him 2 EUR (approximately 2.7 USD). This is what he said - "thank you very much, brother." Now, I didn't give him a million EUR, but it warmed my heart to hear those words.

As the metro pulled to a stop, I wondered why he approached me twice and what the future holds for him, as a beggar, in a land where people barely greet each other - thoughtless of giving money to a stranger.

Why did no one, but me give him money? I'm confident that if it was somewhere in Africa, he'd leave the metro with a reasonable amount of alms, despite the fact that people don't have much to offer. Are struggling folks more generous or do they simply relate to other struggling folks? Why did all the seemingly affluent folks in the metro not chip in some alms for the beggar?

Luckily, I didn't hastily conclude. I waited another day - the very next day, I met the same gentleman on the metro, doing what he does best - soliciting alms. This time, he didn't walk up to me twice, neither did he look me in the face. I suspect he recognized me as the previous day's "good Samaritan" and did not want to bother me any further.

Now that you know what he does for a living, I think it's human for you to be irritated if some stranger expects you to give him money everyday, at the same time. This is probably why the metro beggar didn't receive any alms from the people on board the metro the previous day - they were sick and tired of donating to the same stranger.

What's my point? Don't judge any one's reaction to a situation at hand before you fully understand why they reacted the way they did. I'm glad I didn't conclude that Finns are not generous. Perhaps, Finns won't be donating to metro beggars anytime soon - until they come to terms with the new trend. No doubt, I was surprised to see beggars on board the metro in Helsinki, but a Finn would be embarrassed and culturally shocked!

It's true that making donations to the the poor is honorable, but it's also true that you won't wholeheartedly donate alms, every day to a physically fit full grown man who could as well get a job and make a decent living.

Permit me to mention that this blog post is coming to you, from on board a WiFi-enabled train from Lund to Stockholm, Sweden - on the morning after my Masters thesis defence. What would the world be like without technology? I wonder...

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The Dreadlocks Myth

Dreadlocks refer to interlocked coils of hair which may form naturally or through manipulation. It is a symbol of a religious movement, notably the Rastafari movement, although an increasing number of people from different religions and cultures wear dreadlocks nowadays. Is it just another hairstyle?

Today, unfortunately, this unique hairstyle - with a long tradition of spirituality, is closely associated with defiance, guns, crime, irresponsibility, insubordination, untidiness, you name it. Even in the U.S, where there's a lot of talk about freedom and the dream of not judging people from appearances, dreadlocked folks have constantly come under attack! I was appalled when a judge in a New Orleans court ordered a teenager wearing dreadlocks to cut them. What happened to freedom? Do ideas about personal appearance cloud your judgement? Why do you think dreadlocks is constantly being associated with negative connotations? Is the dreadlocks myth a reality?

I have been wearing dreadlocks since 2003 - one year after I was admitted to study law in the University of Buea, Cameroon. Initially, people were surprised to see a law student with dreadlocks, but after sometime, it kind of became my "trademark". People described me as the "guy with dreadlocks" and I managed to literally get myself some fans and followers (I still have some today). Fortunately or unfortunately, many people became aware of the fact that it's okay to wear dreadlocks, provided you don't compromise your values and don't show up for a high-profile job interview (at least for now).

At home, I encountered some initial resistance from my mom. I remember she always told me that lawyers don't wear deadlocks. Her fear, which I understood, was that I was going to "change" and compromise the values tirelessly instilled in my siblings and I. However, she let me get away with wearing dreadlocks when she realised it was really what I wanted. It is worth mentioning that her worry was genuine, but I knew better, and never indulged in the things commonly associated with dreadlocks; I never smoked a cigarette ( not in my lifetime!), never dropped out of school, never became a criminal and neither did I negate my christian values or join the rastafari movement. As a matter of fact, I can look you in the face and reaffirm the fact that I've never confirmed any of the dreadlocks myths.

Do you know anyone whose behaviour or goals plummeted, when s/he started wearing dreadlocks? (I don't know any!)

Do you know anyone who has been profiled because s/he wears dreadlocks? (I know a few)

More importantly, have you ever regarded someone who wears dreadlocks as a "loser"? These are tough questions that should be answered in an effort to dispel the dreadlocks myth.

When I started wearing locks, I promised myself that I'd cut them after my Masters degree. As the day draws near, I can't help, but look back with nostalgia at the high and low moments of my 7-year dreadlocks experience. There were moments when, because of my dreadlocks, I was regarded as a local icon. Some friends and acquaintances called me "Icon for Town" - a slang we used at the university, to refer to a trailblazer or someone who stands out from the crowd.

Like I said, there were low moments too - when people MISTAKENLY thought I was just another uneducated, low-life criminal with dreadlocks. I always like the look on their faces when I "blow my cover", though.

Regardless, I've never regretted my decision to wear dreadlocks. I'm happy to have represented the many responsible folks out there who wear dreadlocks, and to have "busted" the dreadlocks myth.

From this day on, before you prejudge someone who wears dreadlocks, bear in mind that you might be going in for another big surprise because s/he might just be more educated, more successful, more cultured and generally a more dedicated citizen of the world, than you're! Get to know the dreadlocks carrier before you jump into hasty conclusions.

I'll leave you with the words of the legendary dreadlocked Bob Marley - "One Love."



The dreadlocks myth has been busted!

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