Iowans Explore Ancient Wisdom and Peacemaking These girls are
from the Venda tribe in South Africa. Geral Blanchard visited
with the Venda people to learn more about their healing
practices. To view a slideshow of photos from Geral Blanchard's
travels and his AFSC talk in Des Moines on September 21, please
click here. By Jon Krieg, AFSC Senior Administrative Associate
Trust instead of fear. Generosity in lieu of greed. Compassion
and community rather than vengeance and isolation. According to
Des Moines author and healer Geral Blanchard, these are some of
the timeless values which many indigenous and traditional
cultures use to live peacefully and happily. Speaking at AFSC
Iowa’s 2011 celebration of the International Day of Peace,
Blanchard described himself as a “missionary in reverse,”
studying the lives of indigenous peoples in Africa, South
America and North America to help us understand how ancient
wisdom can enable us to end our reliance on warfare and
punishment. Saying that healing often involves “mak