I’ve been back in Uganda for a month now.   Since returning home I have seen a lot of progress being made with my secondary project.  Yesterday, I had my first meeting with a second Village Savings and Loan (VSLA) group, this one also comprised mostly of women.   Many other individuals in the community have also [...]

The past couple of months have been quite exhilarating.  During the first week in December I attended Camp BUILD (http://campbuilduganda.blogspot.com).  Camp BUILD is a weeklong leadership development camp for young Ugandan men aged 10-15.  The camp was run entirely by Peace Corps volunteers and invited students from all over the country.  The camp was held at [...]

It’s November.  Back home in the USA the leaves are turning brown and falling off trees.  The weather is probably a bit cooler and people are getting used to waking up to sub-50 degree weather.  Not in Uganda.  It’s still 75-80 degrees farenheit everyday.  There is also no daylight savings time as the sun continues [...]

It has been over five months since I first moved to my site.  This is usually the time when volunteers start to feel jaded and wonder exactly what they are doing here.  The assignments/organizations that Peace Corps finds rarely have much structure or a set schedule of work for the volunteer.  Even with teaching, volunteers [...]

With the school term over, I decided to test my adventurous side and climb a volcano in the south-west corner of the country. A group of my fellow PCVs and I travelled to Kisoro the weekend before In-Service training to hike Mt. Sabinyo, which in the local Kinyarwanda language means “jagged tooth”. It’s a 9-10 [...]

The school term is almost over and it has definitely been an educational past few months at site.  This was the first time outside of student teaching at training that I have taught and it has definitely been a bit of a challenge.  The Ugandan educational is pretty dysfunctional compared to Western education.  The students [...]

Here’s an original song I’ve been working on since I moved to Uganda five months ago. http://www.soundcloud.com/joshmaskdotcom/foolish-pride It’s a real recording too.  None of that YouTube cover song business.  If you like it, the biggest compliment you can give me is to like my bandpage on facebook.  http://www.facebook.com/joshmaskdotcom Lyrics: Deep inside my soul, There’s a [...]

I was bored at site so I videotaped a couple of cover songs.  Enjoy.

This past weekend we held a mural painting event in Kyotera to celebrate the Peace Corps 50th anniversary. Many volunteers traveled from all over the country to my fellow volunteer, Ashley Dunn’s site to participate. We painted several murals that expressed PIASCY messages (PIASCY is a national AIDS awareness program) and spent time getting to [...]

Today was the first official day of classes for the second term at Sseke Secondary school.  For this semester I am teaching primarily ICT (information and communications technology) classes as that appears to be the area where I am most needed.  I had my first class this morning and it went over well I believe.  [...]

Well it’s been almost two weeks since I’ve moved to site.  Things are going well, albeit slow.  School is not in session until May 23rd so most of the teachers are back home in their respective villages.  Many teachers in Uganda are assigned to schools in the country based on need so it may not [...]

If you want to send me mail please send to: Ssendaula Joshua Mask c/o Sseke Secondary School P.O. Box 1642 Masaka, Uganda Good things to send are hand sanitizer, BBQ sauce/ seasoning (I miss Memphis-style BBQ), drink mixes (treated water tastes terrible), AAA batteries, magazines like Time, Forbes, Fortune, Newsweek, US News and World Report [...]

Well tonight I am blogging from my own house (well umm… apartment) on the first official night of my service.  I am no longer surrounded by my American peers on a daily basis.   I no longer have a Ugandan family to feed me or provide me with advice.  For the first time since I have [...]

It’s been an exciting week!  I found out that I will be teaching at Sseke Secondary School in Masaka, Uganda.  It’s about two and half hours south of where I am now.  I also found some local musicians in the Sseguku area who I’ve been collaborating with the past few Sundays.  I was in the [...]

Hey everyone!  Well, school based training is officially over and I only have three weeks left until Peace Corps training is over.  I can’t believe it’s been almost six weeks since I first came to Uganda.  I learned a lot during my school based training since I have never taught in a classroom before, let [...]

Well, it’s been about three weeks now since I first arrived to Uganda.  We had staging in Philadelphia from February 9th to 11th before we left for New York.  During staging we filled out all the necessary paperwork for passports, visas and learned general information about what to expect when we arrive.  I also met [...]

The past few weeks have been very busy.  I’ve spent most of my time getting my belongings together (http://www.peacecorpswiki.org/Packing_list_for_Uganda) and visiting friends and family.  I also decided to do some “touristy” things in and around Memphis so that I would have pictures to show my future students in Uganda. I started my tour in Tupelo, MS [...]

This has been a very exciting week for me!  I was told last Thursday from my placement officer that I would indeed be invited to join the Peace Corps.  A few days later I received a letter in the mail telling me I was going to be assigned to work in Uganda.  I was a [...]

My father and I took a short road trip this weekend down to Clarksdale, MS to visit the Delta Blues museum.  While Memphis is known worldwide as the “Birthplace of Rock ‘n’ Roll” for Elvis Presley, Sun Studios and Beale Street, many would argue that the sound actually originated a little more south in the [...]

I still haven’t heard anything yet from the Peace Corps but  the placement process can take anywhere from 2-4 months.  Keep your fingers crossed that I’ll hear something this month. I’ve been keeping myself pretty busy with school and work.  But I’ve also found time to rediscover one of my favorite pastimes: playing the guitar.  [...]

Hi!  My name is Josh and welcome to my blog. I am currently in the Peace Corps application process awaiting placement.   Once I find out when and where I am going (most likely East Africa in Feb. 2011), I will be using this site to post updates to family and friends about my times [...]