Yuki Matsuda volunteered with Street Boys Home for a week as part of a program called Week Without Walls. Over the course of the week, Yuki and the children visited several attractions like Dream World, the Science Museum, an ice skating rink, and Major Hollywood. Yuki was partnered with a quiet but polite boy on the first day and helped him enjoy the rides and attractions. By the end of the week, Yuki's buddy had improved at bowling and they were both happy. Yuki felt the experience gave her valuable lessons about caring for children and interacting with people of different personalities.

1. Yuki Matsuda
Grade 10
March 2, 2009
Street Boys’ Reflection
This year for Week Without Walls, I joined Street Boys Home. On the first three days,
we took care of children from street boys home and the next two days, we looked after children
from Wat Koo school. We went to many places such as Dream World, Science Museum, Ice
Skating and Major Hollywood.
On the first day, we went to the Dream World. My buddy was a quiet and polite boy. We
went to the Haunted Mansion which was a little scary and to Snow Town. Eventhough it was
very cold in Snow Town, the children did not seemed to show it because they were so excited
and everyone were having such a good time sliding the slope. And we also rode on the Grand
Canyon and Super Splash too. We were all wet but nobody was complaining. On the next day,
we arrived at the Science Museum. Most of the children did not seemed that enthusiastic. My
buddy was getting a little bored but when we moved on to the Natural History Museum, his eyes
lighten up when he saw the animals. We went to Esplanade mall for skating on Wednesday. I did
ice skating before but it was ten years ago so I felt a little nervous. I could not sleep well the day
before as I was so excited thinking about tomorrow’s skating. In the beginning, my buddy and I
had to hold on to the side but after practicing and practicing and falling down a few times, we
finally could skate. We were both so thrilled. The skating time was about one and the hour hours
but I felt like it was about thirty minutes. On Thursday, it was the Wat Koo school kids turn to go
to Dream World. The children at Wat Koo school were little older so we could ride together on
many of the rides. My partner and I rode on the sky coaster and space mountain. The sky coaster
was scary when it started to sway. Finally on the last day, we went to Major Hollywood for
bowling. At first my buddy did not how to roll the wall properly and could only hit a few pints.
After showing him how to do it he managed to hit nine pints which made him and I very happy.
I am so glad that I joined street boys home this year. This week, I could interact with kids
and I could see many smiling and happy faces. Besides, I learned that taking care of children is
not and easy task because each person a has different personality. I also got the chance to meet

2. my other ISB buddies whom I did not had the chance to do so before. Finally, I learned and
experienced many things from street boys home so in the future, I hope to gain from this
experience.