Belinda Jacay was born in 2006 in a small town in the Andes of Peru called Tarma. Belinda was born with Gastroschisis (open abdomen) and Congenital Multiple Arthrogryposis AMC (rigid and crooked joints). Since medical care in her town was ill equipped to treat her condition

she and her family journeyed to Lima, where she was able to recover from Gastroschisis in 2 years, however Doctors were unable to treat her AMC. Confined to her wheel chair, Belinda sought to find independence wherever she could and started writing and painting with her mouth. Amazed by her talent and determination, Belinda’s parents contacted

the Mouth and Foot Painting Artists in Peru where she was encouraged to apply as a Student and was accepted. As a student, Belinda began receiving a monthly scholarship and was able to pay a teacher to advance her training and to buy tools to continue painting. Belinda soon began attracting the attention of local media and was invited to appear

on a local television show. It was during one particular appearance that she caught the eye of a women whole daughter was a Specialist at AMC Shriners in Philadelphia, USA. Belinda’s parents did everything in the power to move her to Pennsylvania for treatment and at the tender age of 8, Belinda made the long journey to America. So far, Belinda

has received 8 surgeries at Shriners Hospital, which has enable her to stand up and use an electric chair, she was even able to enroll in a regular school where learned to read, write and speak English. In 2018, Belinda joined MFPA USA with the purpose of continuing to paint and achieving more opportunities to move forward.

Pictured above: “Holiday Candles” by Jacay.