Built in 1972, the Bolgatanga Preparatory Model School has seen very little renovation since then. Any time maintenance works were done on the school, the very little funds allocated for the purpose were used to work on classrooms or offices. Over time, the school’s toilet facility became overused and was no longer fit for purpose. Therefore, pupils and teachers resorted to hiding in bushes and rocks behind the school to respond to nature’s call. This situation according to the headmistress, Catherine Azantilow, affected school attendance especially among girls during their menstrual period.  “The toilet has not been in use since the early 80s and it is always sad to see our girls engage in open defecation” she said. Josephine Awakre, a Primary 6 pupil of the School also told Joy News “whenever we have our period, there was no place for us to change our clothes. Sometimes we hide behind the rocks (to try and change clothes) and we even end up stepping on other people’s faeces”. Fortunately, the Bolgatanga office of the Community Water and Sanitation Agency (CWSA) under the Additional Financing- Sustainable Rural Water and Sanitation Project (AF-SRWSP) with funding from World Bank/IDA has responded to the plight of Josephine and over 2, 000 of her colleague pupils at the Bolgatanga Preparatory Model School. The agency has renovated the 48-year-old toilet facility to the tune of about ¢79, 000.  The facility is made up of 10-seater water-closet toilets, including four disability-friendly ones, eight washrooms and two urinals. According to the Upper East Regional Director of the CWSA, John Godson Aduakye the AF-SRWSP has provided teacher toilets in at least 39 schools and also supported 120 communities to build resilient household toilets. He said 92 of those communities are open defecation- free. Mr Aduakye explained that his office decided to renovate the facility at the Bolgatanga Preparatory School at a higher cost, mainly because of the high population of the school and also due to the fact that the school is situated in the heart of the Bolgatanga Municipality. “In the whole of the Upper East Region, we have not provided a facility as beautiful as this one,” he said, indicating that the staff and pupils of the Bolgatanga Preparatory school should consider themselves blessed to have such a toilet facility and take steps to maintain it for a very long time.  The headmistress said, “the facility will help eliminate open defecation around the school and more importantly, restore the dignity of our young girls”. Pupils of the Bolgatanga Preparatory Model School staged dance performances to show their excitement. Gifty Yinkrah, one of the Pupils said; “at first when you go to defecate in the bush and come back, you won’t even get water to wash your hands before you go back to class and touch people. But now with this facility, you can wash your hands and girls can now change when we are menstruating, so we are very happy”. The pupils jubilated when the facility was presented to them.