Maya Butalid

Maya Butalid hails from Cebu City, Philippines. She studied at UP Diliman in 1974, where she became an activist against the then Martial Law. In August 1983, she went to The Netherlands together with her husband to campaign for justice and democracy in the Philippines. They both left the movement in 1993.

Maya worked at a Dutch welfare institution from 1993 to 2002 as the Coordinator of a Parenting Program for communities in need in Tilburg, the Netherlands. In 1998, she earned her Master’s degree in Cross-cultural and Child and youth psychology at the University of Tilburg. From 2003 to 2010, she served as a City Councilor in Tilburg, maintaining her regular job. She worked with the Council for Refugees as Regional Project Leader for Integration and Participation from 2002 until her retirement in 2022.

Doing volunteer work, social and political engagement have always been a part of her life. She currently serves as adviser to the Board of Bayanihan Foundation, Center for Filipinas in The Netherlands, and is also one of its core volunteers helping Filipinas with problems. She is also actively involved in the climate movement in the Netherlands. She is also a volunteer at the UP Diliman Gender Office (UPDGO) in the Philippines, giving online counseling to its clients.

Her first book, Chasing Windmills, is a collection of personal essays about events in her life and her reflections on them – about her life as an activist, her participation and integration process in Dutch society, and her continuous rooting for Philippine development. She concludes: “No matter how integrated I may be in Dutch society, contributing and participating fully in this society, does not make me less of a Filipino”. With this she hopes to generate discussions among overseas Filipinos about their lives as a migrant.

Her second book, The Heart of a Mother, is an anthology of short stories inspired by real-life stories of mothers. Of mothers from all walks of life – cutting across cultures, beliefs, generations and social classes. Stories of how that unconditional love of mothers manifests in various ways, while dealing with the challenges confronting them.

She is married to Carlo Butalid; they have two daughters Ligaya and Elena, and grandchildren Tala, Manuel, Noan and Léa.