The air was filled with the sweet smell of cooking and quiet, excited chatter, as “Focus on Africa” began. On Wednesday, Nov. 8, UNI hosted the “Focus on Africa” event in the Curris Business Building, from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. The event was open to everyone and served as an opportunity to learn about Africa and its cultures, with free traditional dishes provided so attendees could get a taste of African cuisine.

The event was organized by the UNI Business Global Associates organization, who partnered with the UNI African Union to provide African food, music and culture to UNI students. Each semester, Global Associates hosts a “Focus On” event to continuously engage students in learning about other countries and various cultures.

“I am the president of Global Associates, and I’ve studied abroad a few times so it really drew me towards this club,” said Thomas Larsen, a supply chain management major with a minor in international business.

Larsen is in his last semester at UNI as a fifth year student.

“We do this every year and for this event, we decided to partner with the African Union to do the Focus on Africa,” Larsen said.

According to the UNI Business website, Global Associates is a student organization, where domestic and international students can come together to learn about international business operations and national cultures. By comparison, the African Union aims to promote and inform people of the many African countries and their rich cultures.

“Global Associates is essentially a business club for international business,” Larsen said. “We tour companies, and we go on an annual trip as well. This year we went to Milwaukee and toured a few companies there.”

The “Focus on Africa” event featured African foods, as well as posters from various African countries which displayed facts about each country and its culture. Some traditional African dishes include:  akara, alloco, briouat, couscous and fig rolls, just to name a few.

“We’re providing African food so we have all the different types of foods that represent different cultures, which will help students learn more about the different African countries,” said Deepthi Seelam, a senior business management major.

Other activities at the event included African music and African drums.

“I think this is really important to have these kind of events at UNI, to see that all students are a part of it, whether they’re coming for free food or coming to learn about different cultures,” said Danusha Manohar, an international student from Malaysia, in the graduate program for industrial mathematics. “It’s nice to see everyone showing up.”