What value do 'natural and exotic doctors' adverts add?

| Monday November 1, 2010 00:00

Out of interest I took one midweek newspaper some weeks ago and browsed through the classified section.  I then summarized the services that the adverts from these practitioners claimed they were offering.  Below is a summary of the main 'services' offered by the seven classified adverts I looked at:

* Enlargement (of the male organ), one stated penis enlargement from 15-30cm!*Lost lover (sometimes stated as bringing back lost lovers)*New job*Virginity (sic!), (there is also vaginal tightening in some adverts- maybe that goes with it)*Financial problems*Casino*Pregnancy (sometimes stated as ladies who don't give birth)*Help in sexual problems (stated as either problems with ejaculation or erection, sperm boosting!)*Removal of misunderstanding with anybody!*Customer attraction*Problems of thieves from attacking homes and shops*Promotion / to be liked at work*Bad luck (going with removal of evil spirits in some adverts)*Breast firming

The advertisers claim to be herbalists, natural and exotic doctors etc.One can classify these services that they claim to offer into two major categories; the ones related to sexuality and reproduction (penile enlargement, vaginal tightening, potency/erectile problems, premature ejaculation, fertility, breast firming) and the ones that cover a large number of issues relating to livelihood and social relations ( lost lover, new job, financial problems, casino, removal of misunderstanding, customer attraction, prevention of theft,  work issues such as promotion, bad luck etc.)What immediately becomes apparent is that these are not generally medical services aimed at preventing disease, curing illness, or preventing death.  Even more interesting is that the remedies proposed are virtually all supernatural - they are things that defy nature as we know it.

In other words, these people are selling themselves to Batswana as capable of controlling forces beyond the normal functioning of nature, things that have no rational or empirical explanation.  For somebody with my background these things are dismissible off-hand as being not within human capability.

I know many Batswana believe in the existence of some kind of the supernatural, such as God or gods, spirits, ancestors, witchcraft and traditional doctors that are able to control natural forces such as lightening  etc.

But then, even those who do believe in some kind of supernatural phenomena, do they believe in these individuals who promise everything from bringing back lovers, influencing employment, winning money in Casinos etc.?  As for sexuality, why would anybody want an enlarged penis; what purpose would it serve?  Modern medicine can do operations to tighten the vagina if it is all that necessary, and to tug the breasts, but can these things really be done with herbs?Are Batswana so gullible that they pay large amounts of money for these obviously false services?  If these people were able to do all these things, would they need to travel to Botswana to earn a living?  If they can make people happy by securing them jobs, money etc., making them win in casinos, why are they not rich themselves?

What kind of permits are these people on- Work Permits? Residence Permits? Visitors Permits? In other words are they doing these things legally according to Botswana laws?  What about Botswana Traditional Healers, do they agree with what is going on?  Can they not take action and work with authorities to put a stop to it?

Anybody from outside reading a Botswana newspaper and finding whole pages full of adverts offering the kind of things listed is bound to be puzzled about what kind of society the people of Botswana is - instead of working hard to secure jobs, avoiding financial problems, or charming members of the opposite sex to love them, they depend on herbalists to do all that for them. And they are so obsessed with sex that they spend considerable time and money modifying the sizes of their sex organs!

Dr Edward T Maganu