All participants are between 17 and 21 and for nine months they and their Project Leader live in three pre-selected communities across the country. The organizations that apply for KatimaKids to come and stay are called KatimaPartners. .

A KatimaPartner can be any non-profit organization that has a rewarding and educational project for these kids. These projects have included trail building, reforestation, awareness-raising and education, recycling, working with seniors or schools, museums, tourism offices and municipalities.

KatimaKids have facilitated day camps, restored buildings, fund-raised for numerous causes and just helped out where there was a need.

Stephanie is part of a KatimaGroup that consists of 11 other applicants - 30% of whom are French-speaking. Her group just spent their first 10 weeks in Val d'Or - a small French-speaking community in Quebec.

After Houston, their final 10 weeks will be in Picton Ontario. A K-Group is usually composed of one person from B.C. or the Yukon, two from the Prairies, Nunavet or the N.W.T., four people from Ontario, three from Quebec and one from the Atlantic provinces.