Need a doctor?

Disclaimer: the content below may offend pious viewers. You have been warned.

Do you suffer from anything. No really, anything?
From court cases, bad luck, body pains, to promotions, bewitchings, and strong penises, Prof Raoul has the herbal remedy for all your problems.

As tongue in cheek as it may sound, this is for real. Whenever I catch the train to work, I am bombarded by advertising about this "Prof Raoul". Exiting the Cape Town station (via Golden Acre) onto St George’s Mall, the minute I come up the escalators I am greeted by the famous Cape Doctor. (For the uninitiated, this is the south-easterly wind that blows incessantly in the city) However, there is also another doctor that greets me, through a couple of people standing at the top of the escalator eager to shove these little flyers into my hands:

Click to enlarge for full array of remedies.

So, I give in, and take one. The first time I read it made me laugh. It still makes me laugh (mainly due to the bad grammar). However, I thought this would be a valuable example to my US friends of the varieties of cultures and beliefs that are all mixed up here in wonderful SA. It was also a wake up call to me in realising how little these wildly differing worldviews actually interact with each other. For many people these ‘superstitions’* and remedies are real, and I’m sure Prof Raoul makes a healthy income as a ‘doctor’. Though I may need a promotion or desire a solution to this countries unemployment, I somehow don’t think he has the herbal remedy for me. ;)

*I use the word ‘superstition’ humbly and carefully. Western culture is as superstitious as any other (eg. you won’t find a seat row 13 on an aeroplane). There is also nothing inherently ‘Christian’ or ‘better’ about allopathic medicine against traditional or alternative forms of medicine.