BIOGRAPHY

My name is Juana Moreno Hidalgo, and I am originally from Bogotá, Colombia, and currently residing in Madrid, Spain.

My family are missionaries, allowing me to live and experience different countries and cultures. One of my best memories is from Cuzco, Peru, where I lived with the local peasantry for six years and regularly visited the extremely remote towns to help the less fortunate. On those trips, I saw magnificent landscapes and some of the famous sites of the Incas, such as Machu Picchu.

My cousin Alejandra (Lala) was visiting in the summer of 2021. For her birthday, I wanted to give her a present. With no other pretensions than to make her happy, I decided at age sixteen to write her an illustrated story inspired by a particular and extraordinary anecdote she had told me, and I called it Smile.

In 2022, I went on a year's sabbatical with other lay missionaries in Cuzco, Peru, and the Sacred Valley of The Incas. The time there would become one of the most enriching experiences of my life and decisive in my personal formation.

I am presently studying Humanities at the Francisco de Vitoria University in Madrid, Spain.

I desire always to transmit the Good, the Beauty, and the Truth.