Whole Child Model Endline Results, Part 3
We’ve covered education outcomes (in Part 1) and what changed in classrooms and at home (in Part 2). Today we’re closing out the Tanzania endline series with health — and with some honest reflection on where we go from here.
The Whole Child Model treats health as inseparable from learning. Children can’t engage fully in school when basic physical and mental health needs aren’t met—it’s not complicated, but it does take real investment to address. In Tanzania, our health-focused work centered on three areas: Menstrual Hygiene Management (MHM), Social and Emotional Learning (SEL), and Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH).
MHM is one of the areas we’re most encouraged by. We trained girls and boys on menstrual health, distributed reusable sanitary pads and underwear, and established MHM girls’ clubs at our intervention schools. What the endline captured was more than logistics — it was a shift in confidence. Girls reported feeling less embarrassed, more willing to talk about what they experience, and more likely to “observe hygiene” during menses. The clubs also became something more than their original purpose: girls provided emotional support to each other, took on school environment projects, and built a sense of collective investment in their school. Girls’ attendance increased. That’s not a coincidence.
SEL showed up in classroom observations in a specific, practical way: students working together across gender lines, and teachers directing more questions toward students who had previously been disengaged — using participation as a tool for focus and belonging rather than a reward for already-engaged students. Small shifts, but they add up.
WASH is still in progress. We completed a school assessment, consulted school and community leaders, brought in a district engineer, and have blueprints and estimates in hand. The Rotary Clubs of Arusha and Pacifica are drafting an MOU to raise funds. This one is moving, just not finished — which is how infrastructure work usually goes.
So what are the three things we’re taking away from all of this?
First: the Whole Child Model works. We now have documentation across education, health, and engagement that things improved. That’s significant.
Second: we need more robust data. This endline gives us strong directional signals — we’re moving the right way. But sample sizes are small (two teachers observed per group, roughly 20 students per school), and some of the timing was affected by post-election unrest in Tanzania that fall. We’re being honest about those limitations because honest data is the only kind worth having.
Third: there’s an opportunity ahead. The Arusha Education District Office is shaping a new strategy — and it already prioritizes education (literacy and numeracy), health (school feeding), and engagement (parental involvement). That’s the Whole Child Model in all but name. We have a real chance to help shape how that strategy gets implemented.
That’s what we’re building toward. And we couldn’t do it without the people who believe this work matters. If you’re one of them: sts-international.org/donate