INFLUENCE is the union of power and purpose. As Child Care manager of the Maxfield Park Children's Home, a trained entrepreneurship skills specialist, a public relations expert, a customer care consultant and a former teacher, Roxiline Morrison-Spence certainly has power. She is also influential to be sure. But more importantly, she has purpose - an abiding commitment to the principles of goodness and generosity that transcend any one individual.

Since February 2001, Spence has been tirelessly ensuring that the approximately 130 wards of the Maxfield Park Children's Home are properly taken care of. Clearly, this is no easy feat to accomplish, but Spence tackles her job with equal passion and gusto. For the children, she is an inspiration as she strives to transform their lives for the better. Her message is empowering: Someone needs to do it.

So who, then, is Roxiline Morrison-Spence? She is a woman of moral character and a source of strength and inspiration. Her life and her work are testaments to the immensity of her bountiful heart. SunDay sat down with Spence, now in her mid-50s, in a recent interview in her cosy office at the home, and as we talked, you could feel her warmth and sense her genuinely deep love for the children she tends to (she refers to them as "my children"). At the same time, she makes you want to invite her into your life, as she invites you into hers.

The Maxfield Park Children's Home, the oldest and largest in Jamaica, was established in September 1918 and serves as a place of safety as well as a permanent dwelling for children, from birth to age 18, who have been abandoned or otherwise made homeless.

"My job involves taking care of these children. Their health, education and day-to-day care are very important to me," Spence explained. "I am someone who is very passionate about what I do and this job really brings out a lot of that. It is an area that really pulls on all the multifaceted aspects of my life," she added, her small eyes widening.

As expected, such a job comes with its share of challenges but through determination and resilience, Spence tackles them with a smile.

"Here, you have a lot of work to do but you don't let it stress you out. Stressed managers are poor managers," Spence explained. "Resources are always a challenge, especially to provide proper health care for the children. As wards of the state they are entitled to free health care but some prescriptions are not available locally, so sometimes we have to try to get them from overseas and that's where a lot of the problems come in.

"Schooling and health care are very expensive and naturally all the wards that come to us are in need of care. Some are traumatised, psychologically unfit and some in need of serious medical care. There's a million and one things to do but I ensure that I am organised. I expect the pressure so I am better able to get the job done."

Spence also pulls on her past experiences as a teacher and her love for children to help in her daily work.

"Once a teacher, always a teacher. I love to learn and see people learn," said Spence, who also holds a Master's degree in education from the University of the West Indies.

Despite the challenges that the home faces, Spence says support continously pours in from external sources.

"People call in on a daily basis and offer promises for donations. Also, persons visiting from overseas give cash and kind. Like every other home, the goverment also gives us a monthly sum to help take care of the expenses," Spence told SunDay. "I just want to say that Jamaicans are very kind people. You have those who make it their annual duty to give us donations."

Spence has been working to create opportunities for the children. Her life is a successful campaign to help the youngsters (some of them former victims of abuse) find the love and support they deserve, so they can move on with confidence.

"When I came here, I decided to focus on ensuring that the children are educated. I believe that appropriate education is very important," Spence said. "Some of the children who come here cannot read or write but they are able to learn skills."

Today, over 50 per cent of the wards are enrolled in external institutions, such as Jamaica College, Mona High, HEART, Norman Manley, YMCA and YWCA and several primary schools in the corporate area. Some companies have also sponsored individual students who have demonstated exceptional academic ability.

At the Maxfield Park Home, the children learn information technology skills at the computer lab, which will soon be upgraded, and are also actively involved in horticulture. At the place of safety, there is also a nursery and a special education school where "challenged" children are educated within the facility, which also has specially trained teachers.

"Some of the children who come in to us are below the education level that one expects at their age. So, we have to target the basic skills of reading and writing," Spence explained. "Part of the challenge that we face overall though, is ensuring that each child develops his or her own identity. A negative aspect of institutional life is the fact that even though it teaches discipline, the wards sometimes have difficulties developing their own identities."

Besides academics, children receive training in one or more crafts and skills: art, agriculture, basketry, craft, home economics, and sewing lessons. The very active choir has also done a CD recording with a Japanese group in collaboration with children from other homes.

A beautification project was launched when Spence took over and today the well-kept grounds of the home are testament to the hard work that has been put into transforming the appearance of the home. Spence also saw to the establishment of sports facilities (basketball/netball court, football, cricket field) on the grounds to help the kids to let off some of their aggression.

"When I came here I had to intervene in so many fights that I decided to ask the board to convert a section of the grounds into a basketball court. The children were very excited and still are. Today, we have a top mini-league basketball team that competes against other squads in Kingston like the Wolmer's senior team," she told SunDay. "The gardening and the sports have helped tremendously to tone down the aggression among the wards."

The basketball team has since won numerous trophies in the mini-league. The Maxfield Park teamis also the reigning Inter-Home Spelling Bee champion.

Spence had high praises for the board and the supportive staff (roughly 80 employees) of the home who she says work tirelessly and selflessly.

"It's all a collaborative effort. Our board is chaired by Ruby Martin and she has been doing an excellent job," Spence said. "I am also really satisfied with the hardworking and dedicated attitude of the staff. They are really eager to do their job and learn to do it better."

Martin also lauded Spence for her work over the years.

"She is very dedicated and it shows in her level of commitment and the positive changes that she has been effecting at the home," Martin told SunDay. "When you love what you do, you will do it well and Mrs Spence shows that."

The staff, which works on a three-shift system, includes administrative personnel, senior and junior house mothers (also called caregivers), laundresses, attendants and cooks.

"We meet regularly and I am pushing to get formal training for them. They are quite trainable, they are intelligent people who understand perspectives," said Spence.

Spence's efforts over the years have not gone unnoticed. In 2004, she was one of several Jamaican women who were honoured with the international Nostalgia In Gold Award for her work with children.

"I was called and told that someone had nominated me. I felt so honoured. The award is from an international company based in New York, USA."

Earlier this year, she received an award from Martin, for her invaluable contribution to the home.

Spence, in the meanwhile, began hosting the radio programme Common Sense Parenting, which airs on Thursdays from 11-11:30 am on Hot 102 Fm during the talk show, Disclosure. The programme is aimed at offering parenting advice for Jamaicans.

"Some parents lack the practical hands-on approach to parenting, so on the programme we discuss topics according to popular interest," Spence explained. "It's a passion for me. I talk about parenting issues and challenges whether during pregnancy or after. I want to help make a difference."

At the same time, Spence wants to remind Jamaicans that we who "flourish in freedom" have a moral responsibility to help others who have the desire to succeed but just need an opportunity, particularly abandoned children. She also believes that more needs to be done to protect children of the state.

"People need to be more sensitised about the plight of some of the nation's children. Under the Child Care and Protection Act, the necessary provisions are there for the protection of our children but the problem lies in the implementation," Spence argues. "The implementation hinges on broader education in society because people need to know that whether the children are yours or not, there's a role you have to play as an adult to help protect children. You cannot legislate morality, people have to want to play their part. Your head and your heart must be in it."

For Spence, a mother of two, serving at the Maxfield Park Children's Home has been an uplifting and spiritual journey.

"For me, it has been spiritually rewarding. I see this job not just as part of my social responsibility as a Jamaican citizen, but as part of my Christian obligation," she said serenely. "I also have strong family support."

Spence's daughter, Kim-Marie Spence, received the 2004 Rhodes Scholarship.

"I am a very family-oriented person who hails from the country. I love country life and wide open spaces."

She said a part of her vision for the Maxfield Park Home is to continue to make it a facility that seriously takes on the job of seeing to the care and protection of the wards, as the physical infrastructure develops.

"In that care and protection, we want to continue to highlight the importance of education as a strong force for upward mobility."