Billema Kwillia

Billema Kwillia, or Belema Kwelea, or Belema Kollia (born 1925) is a teacher and composer from Liberia. She composed the hymn "A va de laa" which was translated to English from Loma as "Come, Let Us Eat", and features in several modern hymnals.

Biography Kwillia was born around 1925 in Liberia. Little is known about her early life, other than she was taught to read Loma through a literacy programme funded by a missionary church. She converted to Christianity and became an evangelist, as well as working as a teacher. Miller was an American missionary who worked at the Lutheran Literacy Centre in Wozi. According to S T Kimbrough Jr. and Daniel W. Sopo, Kwillia had composed several hymns in Loma which were used by the Lutheran church there, of which Sopo had a list of seven.

Reception The inclusion of Kwillia's works in western hymnals brought to attention the issue that Western notation is not able to capture the nuance of music from non-Western cultures. This can contribute to the Western version having little resemblance to the original. For "Come, Let Us Eat", this hymn is meant to be sung unaccompanied in unison, following Liberian practice; however most often in the west a keyboard instrument leads the tune. Madeline Forell Marshall has noted that it is not just the melody that western music can misunderstand but also the significance of the structure of the lyrics, as well as their content.