Name of Language: Lunyole [LOON yo lay]

Name of People Group: Banyole [BAN yo lay]

Name of Area they live in: Bunyole [BOON yo lay]

Location within country: Southeast Uganda in Butaleja District

Geography and Climate: The Nyole people (Banyole) live in an area of green, rolling grassland, surrounded and divided by papyrus-lined swamps. The temperature is moderate to hot with 40" rain annually.

Altitude: 3,400 ft.

Geographic Co-ordinates: 33.5 e 1 n

Population: 228,918

Cultural Information: The Banyole are primarily farmers, but nearly every home also keeps domesticated animals such as cows, goats, sheep and chickens. They grow some crops for sale, mainly rice, cotton and coffee. There is little land within their area that is uninhabited, so most of it is cultivated.

Diet: Their staple food is finger millet, but they also eat sorghum, maize, cassava and sweet potatoes. Sauces including meat, tomatoes, or peanuts accompany the staple food. Most cultivation is done by hand.

Average Income: The majority live under the poverty line. The principal means of transport is by bicycle, even for transporting crops. Some Banyole rice-farmers have to travel many miles to their fields.

Alternate language names: Nyule, Nyuli, Lunyole

Literacy information: The Literacy Rate is approximately 50% in either English or Luganda or both.

Attitudes: The changing outside world has an impact on the Banyole. The older men worry about the younger men going off to earn money as employees instead of staying at home to build their house and provide for their family in the traditional way.

Religion: Although a majority of the Banyole would call themselves Christian, their understanding of biblical truth is very limited, and they have not learned to trust God fully. The result is that they often turn to the local shaman and witchdoctors to solve their problems of hunger, poverty and sickness. This shallow understanding of Scripture allows the people who have been converted to Christianity to become vulnerable to backsliding, through falling back on traditional religious practices or even the attraction of Islam. Islam is making its presence felt in Eastern Uganda and Muslim proselytizing is very active.