Documentary chronicles Fall River native's efforts to educate educators in Africa

When longtime Fall River educator Bill Molloy visited the slums of Nairobi, Kenya, seven years ago, he wasn?t only struck by the abject poverty, but by the dedication of the country?s teachers, most with little education themselves.

That?s when Molloy created the nonprofit African Teachers Foundation, a group dedicated to teaching the teachers of East Africa to improve their skills and, ultimately, improve the lives of their students.

A documentary, created by Providence-based filmmakers John Lavall and Kate Kelley, that chronicles the work of Molloy and his small staff of volunteer educators will premiere on March 1.

Lavall and Kelley produced the film ?Kujifunza: The Work of the Africa Teacher Foundation? after they traveled with Molloy to Kenya last June for three weeks.

?Kujifunza,? translated to English from Swahili, means ?to learn.?

The short film?s premier is free and open to the public, and will be shown at 6:30 p.m. in the Paff Auditorium on the University of Rhode Island?s Providence campus, which is located at 80 Washington St.

The filmmakers were attracted to the project because they knew of the important work being done by Molloy, and the documentary was a way to ?describe that work in a different way,? said Kelley.

?It?s sometimes hard to get people in that place,? Kelley said, ?We went there with a gut feeling and we really wanted to do it for him.?

Kelley said she and her partner were impressed with the African teachers, who are thirsty for information and knowledge from the foundation?s volunteers.

Molloy said the film beautifully documents what the Africa Teacher Foundation has accomplished.

?We work in the bush and we work in the urban slums of Nairobi giving teachers the tools to change lives,? Molloy said. ?The filmmakers did a masterful job giving a visual to what we do.?

The Africa Teacher Foundation has trained more than 740 Kenyan and East African teachers, who, in turn, have improved the education of 29,000 students. The entire effort is funded through private donations, Molloy said.

Last summer, during a training session, Molloy said he asked a teacher named Amos how he was doing.

?He told me, ?I wish today was tomorrow so I share this with my students.? That sums up why we do this work,? Molloy said.

Born in Fall River?s South End, Molloy started his 44-year career in education at B.M.C. Durfee High School in 1970 as an English teacher, then served as a building administrator before retiring from the city school department as assistant superintendent of curriculum in 2004. A year later, Molloy joined the staff at the University of Rhode Island?s School of Education, where he still teaches. He now resides in Portsmouth, R.I.

Lavall is four-time Emmy Award-winning producer and director. His work has been broadcast nationally on PBS, and his documentary films have been shown in festivals throughout the U.S. and internationally.

Kelley is a photographer from Boston who teamed up with Lavall in 2012. Their company is called Devlo Media.

Email Jo C. Goode at jgoode@heraldnews.com.

Source: http://www.heraldnews.com/news/education/x846060728/Documentary-chronicles-Fall-River-natives-efforts-to-educate-educators-in-Africa?rssfeed=true

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