PRS Radio

On this episode of #PRSradio Da Nang and Hoi An, I speak to Mai Mc Cann, The Founder of Hearing and Beyond in Vietnam.  Mai's family originally hail from Belfast. They emigrated to New Zealand when she was 4 months old in 1956. Mai shares snippets of her incredible life story including growing up in New Zealand, her love of Ireland, working as a nurse in the outback of Australia, and how she survived and ultimately thrived after a very difficult marriage break up which she says nearly killed her. I’d like to thank Mai for the openness and honesty she demonstrated in sharing this very personal event with us on this episode. It will, I have no doubt, help somebody, somewhere, someday. She is an excellent example of how people can overcome great difficulties and thrive thereafter. After the break up of this marriage Mai found herself in Hoi 15 years ago in 2006 and after volunteering in a number of places she set up Hearing and Beyond In Vietnam. This is a small, privately funded NGO that assists Deaf & Hard of Hearing children in Hội An. We will hear much more about Hearing and Beyond in Vietnam and much more in the podcast. I have visited Hearing and Beyond and it is an amazing school. I encourage anyone in the area to contact Mai and go and visit if you can or even better still donate a few dollars if you can. I would like to thank all my family and friends who have already donated to this wonderful school....John Brady in Galway....you are now top of my donators hit list....I can't believe you slipped under the radar......... (I will put a link to her website and Facebook Page at the bottom of this page) PRS Radio Da Nang & Hoi An Podcasts can be found on Apple, Google, Breaker, Spotify, Overcast, Pocketcast and many other platforms where podcasts are available. Remember to subscribe on whichever platform you listen on, and like comment and share. Thank You. Enjoy the shows! With @mrtherpod #YouAreNotAlone #MentalHealthAwareness #AddictionRecovery  Music  Backing music in the introduction and conclusion is by Mark Smith and MSP. The Song is K-Says. Closing Song: 'See the Light' by Colin Devaney from the Album 'This is the Sound' available on Bandcamp here. Links https://www.facebook.com/hearingandbeyondvietnam What Hearing and Beyond in Vietnam Do How to Help and Donate to Hearing and Beyond in Vietnam  https://colindevaney.bandcamp.com/ Mark Smith and MSP 

On this episode, I speak to Andrew Vadas, a North-Shore Sydney Gentleman, of Hungarian descent who has lived in Shenzhen (Shekou) for nearly 16 years arriving in 2004.  Andrew decided to torture himself by supporting St.Kilda's, a Melbourne based team in the AFL.. A shocking decision; let's hope his decision to come on the podcast is a better one......  We hear about his life growing up in Sydney; pursuing the great Australian dream of wife, family, car, house and business and how he achieved all this by the age of 25, yet how his real passions including music fell by the wayside in the process.  After his divorce, Andrew suddenly was presented with an opportunity to move to China ("where?") and how he seized this opportunity with both hands and reaped the benefits, both personally and professionally.  Andrew has experiences the highs and lows that China has to offer; he speaks candidly about doing business within China and some of the pitfalls involved including a cautionary tale about a friend who lost $6 Million in a deal gone bad.  We hear about his love of taxi driving and where this stems from and some of the interesting experiences he had while driving in Sydney. We somehow manage to relate taxi driving to the need of expats to develop a support network when to move to Shenzhen! Andrew has rambled along the pathways of China this last 16 years and has many tales to share with us including how he resurrected his musical career in Shekou. Being an expat in China can be a challenging experience and not everyone is cut out for it to be honest. We talk about this and  how being out of your comfort zone and having no support network in place can lead to personal problems for people moving to Shenzhen.   We hope you enjoy the show and please share with your friends and rate the show in Apple Podcasts/Google Podcasts.  The full uncut extended episode can be found here on Youtube.  You can find me on Twitter @EugLeonard and you can follow PRS Radio using the #PRSradioSZ  You may also be interested in a new show I have about the SDG's (Sustainable Development Goals) and this is also available on Anchor https://anchor.fm/sdgagencysz  Thank you Andrew Vadas for joining us on PRS Radio; an absolute gentleman.