Brothers orphaned by Indian Ocean tsunami return to help rebuild Sri Lanka
Paul and Rob Forkan used the loss of their parents in the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami as motivation to start a charitable initiative. Their school for underprivileged village children opened last year in Sri Lanka, and they hope to open more around the world
The days leading up to Christmas are usually times of joy, yet for a few years, it was anything but for Paul Forkan and his five siblings. The British family lost their parents, Kevin and Sandra, to the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami during a holiday in Sri Lanka. But four years ago, Paul and his elder brother Rob decided to overcome the tragedy and make Christmas a happy time again. They came up with the idea of selling flip flops with the goal of building a kids campus in memory of their parents in time for the tsunami’s 10th anniversary.
Let’s not beat ourselves up about them dying, let's do something positive
Last Christmas, the dream became a reality with the opening of Gandys Kids Campus, in the small village Mau Gama (or Mother’s Village) near Colombo. Forty students attend the preschool everyday, taking part in activities ranging from English and maths lessons to sports and social clubs. The school is also planning to offer English lessons to the village’s adults soon.
The campus cost £150,000 (HK$1.7 million) to build, and the funds were raised by the Forkans’ smart business moves: they began by just selling flip flops, then moved onto designing and manufacturing their own in a factory in China. They’ve sold more than 200,000 pairs in seven countries since.
“Our parents always taught us to take the positive out of the negative,” says Paul, during a recent trip to Hong Kong to meet his local Gandys distributor. “We thought, ‘Let’s not beat ourselves up about them dying, let's do something positive.”
In Gandys’ first year in 2012, 10,000 pairs were sold; in 2013, 50,000, and in 2014, 150,000. Today, the flip flops are stocked at popular department stores such as Topshop and Selfridges – the brothers are also looking into investors for a five-storey concept store in London – and have been worn by celebrities such as One Direction and Jessica Alba. The Forkans have come a long way since the days when they took product shots in a bathtub in Rob’s apartment in London.
The brothers’ success caught the eye of Britain’s leaders and royalty. They’ve shown up at the House of Lords and Downing Street in Gandys.
“We just wear them all the time,” says Paul. “People thought we were crazy because we would turn up to business meetings in them, even through the winter.”
But to the Forkans, flip flops are more than just footwear; it is a symbol of their freedom, which was instilled in them by their parents.