The African Student Association will highlight its distinction from the Black Student Association during its week-long activities celebrating Africa Week.

“It’s a chance for everyone to just kind of experience Africa,” said Karen Matambo, African Student Association president and biomedical engineering junior. “We’re trying to bring it to life. You’ll feel like you’re actually in Africa.”

The group also is trying to promote awareness for itself. African Student Association differs from the Black Student Association because it is geared toward addressing the needs of African-born OU students and informing other students about them as well.

“It’s for everyone not just African students,” said Matambo, who is originally from Zimbabwe. “It’s for anyone who’s interested in African students at OU or promoting African culture on campus and in the Norman community.”

For 13 years, the group has helped African students with the struggles of being an international student including everything from renewing Visas to finding a ride to the grocery store, Matambo said.

“It’s a chance to interact with people from back home,” Matambo said. “It’s the connection between you being in a foreign country and not being with your family, so it’s like a family away from home. We’re there for them.”

Meetings stress the cultural aspects of African life. Each meeting includes serving a dish from a different African country.

Many members of African Student Association and Black Student Association are active in both organizations, said Lauren McMillan, Black Student Association president and English writing senior.

Founded in 1968, the OU chapter of Black Student Association is a resource for all black students, McMillan said. The organization helps direct members on how to get tutoring and financial aid among other things.

“It’s really a compilation of everything OU has to offer you, but we’re telling you about it instead of you having to go out and find it,” McMillan said. “We also aim to make sure that the university as a whole recognizes African-American culture.”

Matambo said she has been involved in the Black Student Association in the past and said that the organization actually convinced her to pursue a minor in African-American studies.

“Even though they’re two different organizations it’s really worth getting to know both,” Matambo said. “There’s so much culture and history to gain from both.”

Black Student Association adviser Cordell Cunningham said both organizations have similar goals: to promote academic achievement, cultural awareness and community building among their memberships and throughout the university.

The two organizations have worked together in the past holding joint meetings, having a Thanksgiving dinner and co-hosting various activities. Both McMillan and Matambo said they hope to continue that relationship in the future.

“When I go to [African Student Association] stuff I learn something every time,” McMillan said. “But somebody from Nigeria might be reminded of home when they go and it’s something to keep them from getting homesick.”

McMillan said African students, black students and anyone interested in black culture should get involved with both groups.

“You get to see two different dynamics of what black culture is,” McMillan said. “You get to see what it means to be black in America and what it means to be African in America. You wouldn’t lose anything from being a part of one, but you get so much more from being a part of both.”