Inside a white tent, warmed by a wooden fireplace, approximately two dozen young African girls in rural northeastern Zimbabwe shed their shoes and settled onto mattresses, ready to share their experiences. Their collective chant of "it's so nice to be here" resonated through the space, setting the tone for an open discussion where no subject was deemed off-limits.
This gathering represents a modern reinvention of Nhanga, the local term for "girls’ bedroom," an ancient traditional space historically used to prepare adolescent girls for marriage. Now, however, this centuries-old practice has been transformed into a powerful, peer-led movement.
