Walu International- Where is Walu?

Walu International is hosting an event on Thursday Sept 30th from 7pm to close at the W Hotel in San Diego. The event will help fund Walu in their quest to improving sanitary conditions in developing countries’ coastal communities. We sat down with Walu founder Zack Parker and asked him a few questions.

What is WALU?

Walu International is a non-profit organization dedicated to improving the sanitary conditions in the coastal communities of Papua New Guinea.  Walu International uses the most cost-effective methods to save lives; providing clean water, latrine promotion and hand washing promotion.  We use an educational platform to achieve our goals because an immunization only lasts one lifetime, but education exponentially grows over generations.

What inspired you to create this foundation?

I came back from an eight month surf trip and people would ask me, “What was your favorite place?”  I would always reply, “Papua New Guinea”.  In this village there was no running water, no toilets, or no electricity.  They used the beach as their toilet and drank bacteria infested water.

A year later, I pitched the idea to go back to these secluded villages and help improve their sanitation conditions in an International Entrepreneurship course in my MBA program.  It was well received so I decided to move forward with the project and take the business plan course to develop the idea.  Six of us wrote a business plan for the project and we wanted to position ourselves as a more lighthearted non-profit.  Nobody likes to see a child on the verge of death on the TV screen, so we try to market ourselves as the organization that is going to keep these children smiling versus keeping them from dying.

Surfing takes us to the most remote places in the world…Catch any surf?  Who did you travel with?

My best friend and I were on an eight month surf trip after we finished our undergraduate at SDSU and we stumbled upon this village in Papua New Guinea.  We showed up to the village unannounced and were planning on staying for a week.  We were immediately greeted and welcomed into a family’s home.  Without another tourist in sight for about 5 weeks, we surfed great right and left hand point breaks with the friendly locals for the next 7 weeks.

What type of support are you receiving?

Currently, all of the support we receive is through private sources and business partnerships.  Emerald City The Boarding Source in Coronado has been our biggest supporter to date.  Larry Kraus, CEO and Co-Founder of Emerald City The Boarding Source, has taken a personal interest in what we are doing and he has utilized his contacts within the action sports industry to help us gain traction with some of the largest companies within the industry.  Now that we have made these connections, we want our brand image to resonate with our supporters.  When it comes time to make a donation, we want them to think of the child that they helped keep smiling from Papua New Guinea

How are you funding?

All of our funding has been through fundraisers and private sources.  Our fundraisers are consistent with our brand image; lighthearted. We want people to know what we do and how they can make a difference without seeming like they are attending a “Save the World Forum”.  I would much rather have 500 people at a really fun event that are somewhat interested in what we do, than have 30 die hard advocates at an event.  We want people to leave our events feeling like they had a really fun night out on the town and with an added bonus that they supported a great cause.

Got any events coming up?

Our next event is our “Potty Training for Countries” fundraiser in association with Emerald City’s grand re-opening party on Thursday, September 30th at the W Hotel in downtown San Diego. We have live music, Dj’s, a magic show, and much more.  Our event is open to the public and is $25 at the door.  We will also be raising money inside through our live and silent auctions featuring such prizes as: Surf trip to Ecuador, surf trip to El Salvador, Mick Fanning’s surfboard, Andy Irons’ surfboard, advertisement in Surfing Magazine and much more.

Please help support this foundation and come on out this Thursday downtown San Diego at the W Hotel.

Check out the Trailer for the Where is Walu? Documentary.