Hasan Wiso; from Syria to Lebanon to Canada, and the in between
Episode description
Hasan Wiso came to Canada with his family via Lebanon from Syria in 2016. I was lucky enough to be one of Hasan’s first teachers in Haliburton, Ontario, that fall.
Hasan and I learned to communicate as effectively as possible while he learned to speak English using Google Translate and a variety of translation apps. As his English got better and his trust in me grew, Hasan began to share stories about his life in Syria and the journey from Syria to Lebanon and then over to Canada.
I was completely blown away to learn that Hasan had taken it upon himself to leave Syria to find work in Lebanon as a teenager in hopes of making enough money to help his large family flee the war. Hasan was successful, making enough money to buy his entire family’s bus fare to enter Lebanon in hopes of a better life – a life that he explains today got better than he could have ever imagined.
**I need to warn you before we jump into this conversation that Hasan describes some traumatic situations that he and his Dad were often in, crossing highways in large groups of people in order to avoid being shot and killed by snipers, and helping bury the people who didn’t make the trip across the highway.**
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