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The Bena
The eighth group (of ten) we will be working with in Tanzania is the Bena. This information is taken from www.thetask.net.
The Bena are one of Tanzania’s largest people groups. They live high in the mountains in the southwestern part of Tanzania in Iringa Region. At an altitude of about 2000 metres, they cultivate potatoes, wheat, rye, maize and other cold weather resistant crops.
The Bena love their language and have a strong desire to see it written. A few years ago they formed a language board and tried to collect words for a new dictionary. For various unfortunate reasons, they did not succeed in their efforts. When they heard about Wycliffe personnel’s linguistic work in Mbeya, they immediately requested to join the cluster project. That they send their people long distances to participate in teh workshops is indicative of how strongly they want to develop their language.
Population: 670,000
Economic Status: Many of the Bena people are well educated. They are known for their good schools and their relative economic prosperity within Tanzania.
Religion: Christian and Tranditional Religion
The Bena Translation Team: The translation team exists of people from the Lutheran, Anglican, and Free Pentecostal churches.
The Bena Church: The churches in the area are very interested to get Bena Scriptures and the larger denominations are all members of the Bena language board. They even decide who will attend the workshops and ensure that the translators have enough money to travel to Mbeya. They contribute significantly to the project by assisting the teams at a local level. The churches want the Bible in the most prestigious and widely spoken dialect in order to strengthen the church and help with evangelism.