Harmful & abusive? When you hear those words what do you think of? I think of the world at large. I think of those big cities where you don’t feel safe to even walk down the street in broad daylight. I think of horror films, alcohol abuse, & drugs.

My name is Sara Hansen D’Souza. I was born & raised in The Family International. I lived in Denmark till the age of two when we moved to India where I have chosen to remain. I am happily married & have two beautiful children.

I have been helping care for & teach children from the time I was twelve years old. When I finished my studies I chose to become a professional teacher in TFI.

When meeting someone for the first time or when friends come over they say how friendly, outgoing, happy & smart our children are. They (our children) are only four & one & a half years old.

How can you account for such responsive & well adapted children? Their play, teachers, parents, friends, & environment. And where does all this take place? In a Family home. In the home we reside there are eight other like-minded adults who also have a part in the upbringing of our children. These adults main concern is the care & upbringing of the eight children & teenagers who live together with their parents in our home.

I would say The Family is the best, safest, abuse free society there is in the world today. Not only are the children cared for & safe physically but also mentally, spiritually, & emotionally. On top of that we (I say we because I was raised in the same way) are encouraged to think outside the box of the ‘me, thou, & no other’ way that most children & families think today.

Our whole life is based on love, caring, & sharing. I personally haven’t attained a high level in these attributes but I can say I try my best to stay focused on the good of all rather then just myself & my personal pursuits. I think if there were more people living the life that we in The Family live the world would be far better than it is today.

I will never regret the way I was raised or how I have lived my life. I am happy for the chance to give my children the same upbringing I was given. I feel very sorry for those who look back at their lives in the Family with regret & scorn. I pray they will one day come to the realization of what they gave up in exchange for the life of ‘hate’ & ‘revenge’ they now live.

It seems to me they are reliving adolescence – the stage at which most rebel from what they were taught & brought up as. From love they have gone to hate. It is all a personal choice & we make our life what we want it to be.

Does the son of a doctor fight his father for sending him to medical school when he wanted to be a lawyer? No. When he gets the chance he just moves on to a life he prefers. So why can’t those who prefer to move on to another vocation just do so rather then trying to stop somebody else’s right to choose?

We are happy with what we are doing! And so should you be. If you’re not happy go try doing something else.

Let the teacher be happy being a teacher, the lawyer being a lawyer, the accountant being an accountant, & the Family member being a Family member. What’s the difference if all these people are happy, helpful, & well adjusted members of society? Actually there is a big difference – members of The Family International live to give, the others live to gain.

Sara Hansen D’Souza is a second-generation member of the Family International.