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Annemarie Evans

Gordon Oldham's grandson was two years old last month. His grandfather was in London to celebrate the event, having vowed  he will never miss his two grandsons' birthdays.

They are not the only  youngsters in Mr Oldham's life. The others include those that sang to him when he came up a hill in Nepal and, smiling,  threw a garland round his neck  when  the Child Welfare Scheme in the troubled Himalayan nation,  which Mr Oldham chairs, opened a new clinic.

'I get very emotional about it,' said the  54-year-old   lawyer, adventurer and charity worker  - who  two years ago took part in a Sahara marathon 'because it was there'.

'We walked along the valley and they started singing and rushing down to greet us. The kids and the parents were so delighted to have this centre,' he recalls, sitting in his law firm's office in Central.

Mr Oldham has been involved with the charity since 1998 and has made many trips to Nepal.

So far  the Child Welfare Scheme - founded by Briton Douglas Maclagan in 1995 and which has bases in London and Hong Kong - has helped 11 mountain villages  build and manage  day-care health centres.

The charity has also set up drinking water projects and established programmes to build smokeless stoves in many village houses.

'It takes the smoke out of the houses and cuts down on pulmonary complaints,' said Mr Oldham.

The recent strife in Nepal, with huge demonstrations against King Gyanendra's rule, has seriously disrupted the charity's work. While the situation has eased  somewhat, the work of the clinics was affected by  curfews, with staff  unable to get to work and children unable to travel for treatment.

Many of the villages are depopulated, with young men and boys having left for the towns to avoid being recruited or harassed by Maoist rebels or the  army.

During the recent demonstrations, street children were imprisoned, and two children were arbitrarily chosen and taken away by the army from one of the charity's centres, to be returned - beaten up - two days later, Mr Oldham said.

While he is happy to support the cause and also enjoys hiking in the Himalayas, he  baulks at the word 'epiphany' for what he experienced through his work with the Child Welfare Scheme.

He said: 'I thought, you know what, Gordon, you're not a plumber, and you're not a builder. But what I can do is swim with the crocodiles and sharks and do business in Hong Kong.' And through that, he raises funds.

When he is not working as a corporate and commercial lawyer, Mr Oldham is off adventuring.

'In July I'm doing the Atacama desert   in Chile.

'We're running 240km - it will be like doing a marathon a day for the sheer hell of it.  I really like pushing myself.'

The Child Welfare Scheme will be holding a 'Funkraiser' - featuring Nude, plus DJs Simon Pang and Steve Bruce at ILLY, 1/F, LKF Tower Central. All proceeds to the charity. Friday, May 12, 8pm. $150



Lawyer with a taste for adventure pours energies into helping kingdom