Lauren Exton
📝 Founder update: first morning in Uganda
Updated: Mar 11
4:12am Wednesday 8th March: I woke up this morning feeling ready for the day. A feeling I haven’t had in months.

We arrived late last night to Entebbe Airport, delayed after a passenger went into labour a few rows behind me on our first flight out of Dubai. We circled back, and I pray she is okay. I pray her baby is okay too, but I am less hopeful.
I am supported here by two of our most experienced volunteers, Ross and Mel, and I mean supported in every sense. Being here with them is like being here with family.
I still have work commitments back home, so the early rise today has been so helpful. We have work here that begins today, and continues on the work we began in November 2017. So much beautiful work.
Reconnecting with our partners here in person, after almost 4 years, fills me with that “the sky is the limit” feeling all over again.
2020, 2021, and 2022 felt different. For all of us, for everyone, for each of you, no doubt.
But we are here now and it feels like home to me.
My eyes and ears and heart are wide open to help me understand quickly as best I can what has changed here since 2019.
The world has experienced waves of change since we were last here in 2019 and big questions have confronted us all - socially, morally, ethically.
What has been the impact here? What can we learn? How can we do what we do better in 2023 than ever before?
I’ve written more about the power of this 8 day reconnect, reorient and reactivate meeting between Busubi Empowered Communities and Followings Foundation here: https://chuffed.org/fundraiser/followings-5years
The first contract in the Centre’s first income-generating project is wrapping up this month so right now we are campaigning to raise $6000 to get the Centre reopened on April 1st.
Please consider donating a little or a lot - each cent means the world to us.
Back tomorrow from the Centre!
With so much love,
Lauren.