THA tourism secretary recovering after fainting

THA Secretary of Tourism, Culture, Antiquities and Transportation Tashia Burris is recovering after a fainting in Scarborough last Wednesday and being taken to the hospital.

Burris spoke about the incident outside her office in Sangster’s Hill, Scarborough on Monday.

Despite being on sick leave. Burris was present as Heritage Festival and October carnival performers had planned to protest outside her office over late payment of fees.

Asked what happened, Burris said: “I’m standing here and I am still not feeling well.

“The reality is that I think people forget that as a secretary you are a human being, and sometimes your mind is there, you want to keep going, you want to give your all, but your body is not co-operating in the way that it should, so that work-life balance is very important.”

She said all her colleagues would agree when she says the job is not easy.

“You’re dealing with a lot of things on a daily basis and people expect you to be at your best. You want to be at your best. For me, this kind of showed me: hey, I was pushing myself a little too much. At this time, it is just for me to take my rest.”

She said taking vitamins helps, but prioritising one's mental health is more important. She said even when they are physically well, people in positions like hers take a "mental beating."

She added, "Social media is a place where people have free rein to say and do the worst things, and you know, if you’re in public life and you’re looking at social media, it is difficult to do your job. It is difficult to be able to separate yourselves from what you see, especially if what you see about yourself is lies and misinformation, slander, that kind of thing."

She said Tobagonians must have faith in the current THA executive as they have the island's best interest at heart. "Even if it means that we have to run our blood literally to water to get things done, we would do what it takes, and we would also have to manage ourselves in a way to ensure that we could give of our best every single day that we show up and we could also retain enough of ourselves after. Because there is always an 'after' to think about.”

She said her health has not affected the work in the division.

“The beautiful thing is that we have a very strong team in this administration. So I need to take some time off, as I am supposed to be on sick leave right now. We have an able replacement in the form of the deputy chief secretary who is holding on, doing my official duties until I am back out to work, and certainly the rest of the team has been supportive.”

She thanked everyone who called, messaged or simply wished her well.

"That reminds me that the work that I do here is for the people who want to see Tobago progress, who want to see the dream of the greatest little island in the planet come alive, and that is the thing that I hold on to.”