A little more than three months has passed since the January earthquake in Haiti, but the work there has only begun.

An event sponsored by Grand Valley State University’s organizations the African Student Council and Vox United as well as Grand Rapids’ Rays of Hope for Haiti will come together Friday to educate the GVSU community on what is next for Haiti.

The groups will educate as well as offer live presentations and free food at their event, African Diaspora, tomorrow at 7:30 p.m. in the Grand River Room.

Friday’s event will have a Caribbean theme and will include a fashion show, live performances and food from Grand Rapids restaurants Jamaican Dave’s and Sandmann’s.

Patricia Guobadia, the events chair for African Student Council, said the motivation behind hosting this event is to “help the organization and educate the GV community about the African Diaspora and how this relates Haitians and Americans.”

“As time has passed, the community’s support of Haiti has dwindled, and a representative from Rays of Hope for Haiti will speak at our event to relay the changes that have occurred over time and tell students why help is still needed, as there is still an immense amount of work to be done in Haiti,” she said.

During the event the groups will take monetary and nonperishable items as donations.

GVSU’s African Student Council has volunteered at the local Rays of Hope for Haiti since the earthquake hit.

Rays of Hope for Haiti is a ministry that, according to its Web site, “assists the people of Haiti by providing low cost and reliable shipping services from the United States to Haiti. Rays of Hope for Haiti recognize the frustration of NGOs (non-government organizations), volunteer groups and individuals who want to ship needed supplies to Haiti but do not know the process.”

Vox United is a global, nonprofit organization that has a student group on GVSU’s campus. The group describes itself as “working to unite universities, local churches, humanitarian organizations and businesses in a concerted effort to reverse the spread of extreme poverty and HIV/AIDS. We build international bridges resulting in viable, holistic, self-sustainable solutions in infected and underdeveloped communities in Sub-Saharan Africa.”

The Vox United group is also fundraising for a trip they are planning to Tanzania this summer to build filtration systems in a village that will provide clean water for hundreds of local people.

Members from each of these groups will be on hand Friday to answer questions about their organizations.

[email protected]