Miss World Denmark is half-Boholana

With three Filipina beauties – Philippine bet Gwen Ruais, former Pinoy Big Brother housemate Fil-Canadian Riza Santos for Canada, and Fil-Danish Maya Celeste Padillo Olesen representing Denmark – vying for this year’s Miss World title come November 6th in London, Filipinos all over are bursting with pride.

We, Bol-anon’s, on the other hand, have something to be doubly proud of. One of the three Pinay Miss World hopefuls, Miss World Denmark 2011 Maya Celeste Padillo Olesen, is not only half-Pinay – she is half-Boholana.

The twenty-year old Filipina-Danish, is the third of the four children of Jens Christian Olesen and Elizabeth Padillo Olesen, who originally hails from the small fishing island of Hingotanan in Bien Unido.

Maya, who was three, when the family moved permanently to Denmark, reveals her story in the Miss and Mister of Denmark Organization website:

“My parents met each other in England. They slowly developed a sweet romance through their passion for music. My father taught my mother how to play the guitar. This was the beginning of a relationship that stretched across the world. My father is from Denmark and my mother is from the Philippines. After a year, they decided to get married: the start of an adventure as a couple. They travelled to many countries via their work as missionaries. It was their mission to spread the message of God’s love and to help people who were less fortunate. After 6 years of marriage, followed by the birth of their two girls, they got me as their third child.”

“The 24th of August 1991 was the day I was born. Conceived in Nepal, born in the Philippines and raised in Denmark, I’ve always presented myself with my awkward slogan; “Conceived in Himalaya, my name is Maya”. But there is a deeper meaning to my name. Maya means love in Nepali language and it means a songbird in the Philippines.”

Maya’s mother, Silliman University graduate Elizabeth Padillo, a teacher and all-around creative person who dabbles in poetry, music and painting – relates in a weblog she wrote after daughter Maya won Miss Denmark World just last August 20 – that she was, at first, hesitant of the idea of being mother to a beauty queen.

“My disbelief was stronger than her own shock when she got the crown, Miss World Denmark.”

Besides feeling the normal concerns of a mother towards a child that would soon embark in a fairytale adventure of fame and glamour that we’ve seen one too many a young girl ensnared into, Mrs. Olesen had her own misgivings on the whole drama of beauty contests in general.

But, looking at the glass half-full, and seeing how this whole experience could open tons of opportunity for Maya – particularly with her dreams on, one day, working for charitable organizations such as Doctors beyond Borders , helping the poor and the needy – the Boholana mother, as easily, embraced her daughter’s Miss World journey full-on.

Mrs. Olesen says, “With her declared major concerns, which she thinks are very close to her heart, then I feel she will follow a road not necessarily to the road of honour and fame but to a life of service.”

This yearning to serve others, Maya takes from her parents. They were after all Christian missionaries. Mrs. Olesen, on her part, still gives back to the people of her home island Hingotanan. During her last visit in 2008, Mrs. Elizabeth Padillo Olesen donated sacks of rice to the then typhoon-struck village folks, as well as shared her take on art and human creativity to students at her alma mater, Hingotanan Barangay High School. Mrs. Olesen also gives part of her painting sales to deserving Hingotanan students.

Maya also shares her mother’s creativity, particularly with music, as she loves to express herself artistically through singing, dancing and playing piano. “I have a deep passion for music. I enjoy listening to almost any genres. And I love to find undiscovered artists on YouTube. Right now I am obsessed with Adele. She has such a wonderful voice and her songs really reach out to people who have been broken hearted.”

When ABS-CBN Europe news bureau chanced upon the three Pinay beauties for a triptych interview, Maya Celeste Padillo Olesen was asked: Being half-Danish and half-Filipino, what does it feel like representing Denmark?

“I’m so proud of my Filipino roots but I’m also proud of representing Denmark. But yeah, even though I don’t really speak the Filipino language, I feel like one. My mother makes a lot of Filipino food and we have a lot of Filipino parties at home like karaoke (party) and stuff like that. I have a lot of the Filipino culture with me even though I don’t speak the language”, Maya answered.

She has these words for her Filipino supporters. “I have got a lot of support from Filipinos. They have written to me and they tell me how proud they are that I am Filipino so I am going to do my best to make them proud.”

Maya has previously told in another interview that, when given the chance to live in another country, she would choose the Philippines.

“I was born there and left when I was three years old and my last visit with my family was when I was six years old. And I have never visited it again because it is expensive to travel, but I would love to go back some day and be closer to my other half of the family. Family is a very important factor in my life.”

Maya is the second Boholana to join the Miss World pageant, following Anna Maris Igpit, who represented the Philippines in Miss World 2006 pageant in Warsaw, Poland. She will be competing against 113 other beauties from all over the world. The London pageant night is set on November 6th, November 7th on Philippine time.

(This article also appeared in today’s issue of the LifestyleBohol, The Bohol Chronicle.)

Photo Source: www.missandmisterofdenmark.com