By Nagra Plunkett, Staff Reporter 
THERE SHE was, engrossed in a conversation with some of the women who were being treated at a Mother's Day Breakfast at the Dunoon Technical High School in East Kingston last Sunday.
She seemed to have had everyone at ease and every so often, the group erupted in laughter from something she said.
Angella Burke does not only help to organise this yearly event, but she also wears the hat of a wife, mother, part-time businesswoman and councillor for the Norman Gardens Division of the Kingston and St. Andrew Corporation since 1998.
So how does this woman balances family life with work?
"It is hard but I have a very co-operative husband who is as busy if not busier than I am. But he really takes up a lot of what you would consider to be the responsibilities at home so it is evenly distributed and evenly shared," she told Outlook. "I think that over time I have learnt to balance it."
Gender issues
Mrs. Burke has worked with several community projects and is actively involved with organisations such as the Rockfort/Wareika Environmental Trust and the Rockfort/East Kingston Community Trust, a body that deals with engendering peace, unity and harmony through training and self-development. The 43-year-old Mrs. Burke is also a member of Women of the East, which focuses on gender issues.
"A couple years ago, we did an environmental awareness programme in the Burger community (in Mountain View) where we spoke to persons as to how they should dispose of their refuse. While we were there we realised how many children were there in the community, not going to school and then we also realised how many young mothers we had," she noted. "So the Women of the East along with the Rockfort Environmental Group, did a mother and child programme, starting with 25 mothers, all of them teenaged mothers."
She said a number of other agencies were invited to participate in the programme, which offered training, parenting and nutritional sessions. Added Mrs. Burke, "Part of the programme also included giving the free medical attention through the co-operation of doctors in the community. Through Children's Services and the Ministry of Health we also got some funding to assist the programme and we were able to get some of the mothers into programmes."
She is somewhat disappointed that there are not many success stories coming out of the training programmes. She did, however, talk of how proud she was of one young woman who went on to do a HEART/NTA Hospitality Course and is at present employed in the overseas hotel workers' programme.
"A lot of the others didn't take it all the way but one would hope that it made a difference in terms of their own parenting skills and how they see themselves," Mrs. Burke said.
The mother of three boys, aged 17, 13 and six, also referred to past health awareness seminars focusing on diabetes, cancer and HIV/AIDS, staged by the Rockfort Community Trust.
"We had a very successful health fair a couple years ago at the Norman Gardens Clinic and for that we actually did a lot of HIV screenings. Of course we don't know the results but we are proud that we were able to provide access to the services," she stated.
She believes that she should not be given all the credit for projects that she has worked on. "I always say though, that any successful project really never revolves around any one person. I think I am blessed to be a part of a community where we have a lot of individuals who really believe in the community and we want to see the community go forward," Mrs. Burke said. "They have really played a significant part in creating the kind of community that we have and the success of a lot of the programmes is attributed to that."
Besides working, the St. Thomas native enjoys reading, going to the movies and the theatre. This year, she and her husband, Paul Burke, the People's National Party Region Three Chairman, will celebrate their 18th wedding anniversary.
The councillor says she also intends to contest the upcoming Local Government elections in a bid to retain the Norman Gardens Division, which stretches from Rollington Town to Harbour View.
A challenge
The Wolmerian, who has three other sisters, considers it a challenge to be in an all-male family. "It is quite challenging coming from a family of all girls and now having a family of all boys," Mrs. Burke said jokingly.
She has also invested much time on studies. When Mrs. Burke graduated from Wolmer's in 1979, she received a scholarship to study in Cuba for six years.
"I came away with a Degree in translating and interpreting Spanish and French and then I went to the United States and did an MBA in Business Administration and Policy at Baruch College," she noted. "I would like to add that I am now finishing a Diploma in Human Resources Development."
The vivacious female also bragged that even though she does not get much opportunity to speak those languages she has learnt, she is still fluent. Mrs. Burke said that the time spent in Cuba has honed her into a better person as "it was a wonderful experience, I think it gave me a perspective on selflessness and just how you share.
"I always say to people that when I went to Cuba I was lucky to have some friends there who were very, very, poor," she said. "But the kind of openness and sharing really gives you a perspective on how to treat your fellowman."
Mrs. Burke has worked with several community projects and is a actively involved with organisations such as the Rockfort/Wareika Environmental Trust and the Rockfort/East Kingston Community Trust, a body that deals with engendering peace, unity and harmony through training and self-development
