“I can’t get my daughter to do anything at home but the energy she puts into this project just blows me away!”
Parent, Florida Public high School.

How do you break through the clamor of cell phones, MP3 players, and Twitter to reach the heart of a 17-year-old? National Geographic filmmaker-turned-humanitarian Karin Muller has found a way. Each year, Karin spends three months in war zones and refugee camps, filming in-depth stories of the local people. Karin works completely alone - living with local families, speaking their language, eating their food, and following local dress and customs.
Once Karin returns to the USA she offers the entire package free of charge to educational institutions in the USA and around the world and works with students as they use her footage to create documentaries and shorts.
This year schools have produced videos about a Sudanese refugee camp surgeon who is also the camp butcher and a hundred other stories of hardship and hope in war-torn Darfur. When they finish the students take their projects on the road to educate the public and practice their newfound leadership and global citizenship skills.
Why is she doing this? “There is nothing more satisfying than seeing the students transformed into global citizens,” Karin says. “It makes all the hardship worthwhile – the hijackings and scorpions, disease, hunger, and those occasional moments of sheer terror. And watching my retirement savings disappear as I try to fund this project through a recession.”
“Though our focus is on the people of Sudan, Cuba, and Gaza, it’s ultimately America that benefits when our youth develop leadership skills, empathy, collaboration, and critical thinking.”
In August Karin will add her footage from Cuba to the Sudan video already in circulation. And in 2011 – Gaza. Karin’s nonprofit organization – Take 2: The Student’s Point of View - is currently inviting high schools, colleges, or universities in and around Omaha to join the project.
For more information about Take 2 and how to join, please visit www.take2videos.org or email Karin Muller at Karin@karinmuller.com