Tsungi
has varying interests, as can be seen from her bio. She is particularly passionate about writing. She loved to write essays and stories from early childhood.
Tsungi was born Tsungai Brenda Mupawaenda on 14 February 1971 in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. She moved to the capital city of Harare at the age of three. She did her primary school education at two schools. She attended high school at a boarding school that is similar to the one depicted in her book ‘Reflections of the heart – a story of hope’.
After studying Pharmacy at the University of Zimbabwe in 1994, she worked full-time as a pharmacist. At the same time she enrolled at Silhouettes Modelling Studio where she did a modelling course. She graduated with flying colours and was invited back to do the postgraduate course, which she passed with honours. Thereafter she undertook modelling on a part-time basis while she continued her day job. She has several highlights from her modelling career: she achieved national success when she was voted one of the 20 finalists in The Zimbabwe Super Model Competition in 1994.The finalists went on to tour part of South Africa and their trip was serialized on Zimbabwe national television over several months. In the same year the designer for the evening gown to be handed over to Miss Zimbabwe for the Miss World Competition, selected Tsungi to model the gown during the Miss Zimbabwe finals; the newly crowned Miss Zimbabwe went on to wear the evening gown at the global competition, coming fourth. Tsungi was also selected for the cover of the 1994 Annual Report of a regional retail clothing giant, Edgars.
She was married at the end of 1994.
Tsungi retired from modelling in 1995 and had her first child. She continued working over the years as a pharmacist and moved from the public to the private sector; at one stage she owned her own pharmacy. Her love for writing was rekindled in 2003, when she began jotting down her thoughts and putting together notes for what she thought would eventually be her first book - an inspirational teaching book. She then decided to focus on raising her family and left her writing for several years.
Wanting to develop her leadership potential, she went on in 2006 to study for a two-year Leadership Development Programme resulting in her being awarded a diploma in church leadership by Celebration College (under Celebration Ministries International) in Zimbabwe.
By September 2010 she felt she had to put pen to paper and write again - she was inspired to start writing seriously and 'Reflections of the heart - a story of hope' was conceived. The timing coincided with studying her Master's degree and she was unable to write as much as she would have wanted to - she made a decision to totally drop the book for six months so that she could concentrate on her dissertation. She holds a Doctor of Literature and Philosophy in Health Studies from the University of South Africa, and both a Postgraduate Diploma and Master of Philosophy in HIV and AIDS Management from Stellenbosch University in South Africa. She also holds two diplomas in French.
Tsungi sits on a international school and college board. She is a health commodities supply chain expert and currently works full-time for an international public health NGO.
She resumed her book in February 2012. It was released on the 1st of July 2013; Her official book launch was on the 22nd of August 2014. Her book has been endorsed by Dr. John Stanko (From the U.S. and President of Purposequest and author of many books) as well as one of Zimbabwe’s leading motivational authors and speakers, Rabison Shumba.
In February 2014 Tsungi's novel was nominated for a prestigious NAMA (National Art Merit Award) in the category, ‘Outstanding First Creative Published Work’.
Her novel is academically acclaimed:in 2014, Professor Rose Moyana, The Dean of Curriculum Studies and Education at the University of Zimbabwe, announced that 'Reflections of the Heart' had been selected as one of the set books for students who are studying for a Masters of Education in English. International acclamation came for her novel when the US-based Library of Congress selected her book to be housed in 10 university libraries across the US and one in Germany.
From 2015, Tsungi has been a contributing writer for Scripture Union Southern Africa for the ‘Closer to God’ annual publication. She also contributes to a South African online Christian Magazine, SU MAG.
Her inspiration for writing, and for her life as a whole, is her Christian faith. She has a desire to encourage and motivate those in her sphere of influence to not give up in life but see their dreams become a reality. At the same time she is passionate about creatively communicating Jesus Christ and pointing others to God; combining the two, she has coined her writing style 'creative evangelism'. She continues to write inspirational material in her spare time. Having a passion for both creative and motivational writing her writing involves many forms:poetry, short stories, prayers, inspirational teachings, and quotes. In all this she weaves in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Her Christian walk started in 1993. While her husband was a praise and worship leader for over ten years and also served as an elder and cell group leader, she was actively involved in different ministries - music ministry, children’s ministry, women’s ministry and cell group leadership. Tsungi and her husband have a heart for the younger generation and have always found themselves informally mentoring teenagers, young adults as well as young couples.
Tsungi enjoys reading, walking, travelling, board games and eating different cuisines. She loves spending time with her family, who she counts as her biggest success. She is married to Jimi and they are blessed with four children - Komborero, Kudzo, Anesuishe and Inyasha. They live in Harare, Zimbabwe.
"EVERYTHING IS POSSIBLE FOR HIM WHO BELIEVES" MARK 9:23
