Iraqi bookkeeper crunches numbers on Wyandotte Street

Wisam Hado loved his country and his work but he loved his family even more.

Leaving Iraq the country he called home for nearly 40 years was one of the hardest decisions he's ever made. He only made it when men wearing masks arrived on his doorstep and told him to leave or they would kill him and his family.

"I have to save my family, I have maybe five seconds to decide, to live or to die, no other option, to die or to live," said Hado, who fled first to Syria and then to Windsor, where he settled as a refugee four years ago.

Hado was an accountant with a lucrative business in Iraq but, as a persecuted Christian in a predominantly Muslim area, he felt he had no choice but to flee.

"I not care if I die but I have to save my family members," said Hado. "There was no option, no choice."

Hado runs his own bookkeeping business on Wyandotte Street East and is taking courses to become a Chartered Professional Accountant, a certification he once had in Iraq.

Hado taught himself English while he lived in Syria before arriving in Canada and that foresight has enabled his business to prosper.

Hado's two daughters have adjusted to life in Canada. Their room is filled with stuffed animals that made the long journey with them from Iraq and provided comfort in darker times.

They can't believe they lived without McDonald's for so long and the eldest chides the younger to "stop chewing with your mouth open" while eating spaghetti one recent evening.

Sixteen-year-old Vera loves science and has big plans to be a doctor someday. Afnan, 13, has discovered the world of sports. She participates on every school athletic team she can, an option she would have been denied in her native country.

Vera was young when her family left Syria and wasn't able to comprehend the gravity of the situation. She understands now and admires her parents' courage.

"I am proud of my dad … he has done a lot for us, he has got us out of Iraq and Syria and now here," said Vera. "My mom too, I am proud of my mom."

Hado and his family are studying for their Canadian citizenship test, which they take at the end of the month.

Hado loves Windsor, a "small, quiet city" where the people are "very nice" but he still yearns for the country of his birth.

The pangs of homesickness pale next to the joy he experiences seeing his girls come home from school safely every day.

"Now I feel proud because I did a good job for them, not for me. When I see them they have friends, they have their lives the way they are supposed to be," said Hado, sitting behind the desk of his small, recently rented office. "They start their life."