Author aims to inspire the broken with her book 

  

Kwa-Thema – Author and motivational speaker Gloria Mnguni recently published her book, Gathering The Broken Pieces, inspired by her past marriage and childhood. She married at 19 and encountered many challenges in her marriage.

“My book is titled Gathering The Broken Pieces because I had to gather myself and leave that marriage because it had become toxic.

“I was married to a well-known pastor who abused me emotionally and physically. I think I was not ready to get married when I married my ex-husband. I married for all the wrong reasons. One was that I sought consolidation, love, affection and comfort. I grew up in a dysfunctional family, and it gave me a lot of childhood scars,” she explained.

“I was an orphan growing up. I grew up angry and bitter because I was treated differently. I felt abused, but as I grew older, I realised it was me seeking attention. Apart from that, there were things my aunts and family members did to me.

“They would say painful things like, ‘You are ugly’, ’You will never make it in life’ and other hurtful things,” detailed Mnguni.

She grew up insecure and, as a result, neglected herself until she met her ex-husband, who at the time filled her void of seeking love and validation.

She said her book also talks about the childhood scars she had to overcome and how she had to gather pieces of her lost soul, her failures, rejection, divorce and loss.

“I detail how all these traumas started. I thought that getting married would bandage my childhood scars and that I would receive the love I had longed for.

“Instead of gaining that, I was further broken. He became abusive. I was quiet about it because I had no one to talk to about my experiences,” she said.

---

---

Mnguni said their church at the time was gaining new members and the recognition it deserved, which is another reason she felt the need to keep her encounters a secret. The marriage was not only abuse. The husband cheated throughout their marriage.

“I believe my experiences pushed me closer to God. I prayed about everything,” she said.

She described her life as a mess after the divorce, saying she fell prey to alcohol, stopped going to church and questioned her faith. Years later, she found her faith again, devoted herself to Christianity, and was inspired to write her book.

“I wrote this book to inspire many others who could be going through the same things I have been through. Writing about my journey gave me some sense of healing. I became a motivational speaker because I know how it feels to go through trials and tribulations alone.

---

ALSO CHECK: Women’s World Day of Prayer commemorated on March 7

---

“I know how refreshing it is to hear someone motivate you when you desperately need a pick-up line,” Mnguni added.

She urges women and men to speak up when in abusive relationships. She speaks about her journey at events and advices individuals to seek help, comfort and love from those closest to them.

Mnguni has partnered with the Kwa-Thema Library to offer children book writing lessons, literature and storytelling. She teaches children how to write short stories and how to read with understanding while unleashing their creativity.

She also offers a helping hand at the library in these programmes:
• A reading nation is a winning nation;

• A healthy body reeds a healthy mind;

• The library drive;

• Educational games;

• Informal settlement awareness campaigns;

• School initiative drives – HIV/Aids awareness campaign, drug abuse campaign, spelling bee and debate competitions, among others.

“I have devoted myself to community work to keep myself occupied and away from overthinking. I have fully given myself to community work,” she concluded.

---