A Nova Scotia chocolate maker and former Syrian refugee says he draws on his own experience when he considers the fight against COVID-19.
Tareq Hadhad, the founder and CEO of Peace by Chocolate, says he and his family members were forced to flee their homes — and their war-torn country — in 2013.
Hadhad says they lost everything in the blink of an eye.
“We lost our house, we lost our chocolate factory,” he says. “So many of my family members were injured, were killed, were arrested, went missing.”
Hadhad, who arrived in Antigonish in 2016 and opened his new chocolate factory shortly after, says we’re now asked to stay in our homes with our family members and stay safe, and he’ll take that option.
He says the current situation will pass, just as other hardships did.
“If you asked me in 2013 (that) I would arrive in Canada and we’d have a successful life again here, our family members would be safe in a house in Antigonish, I would say ‘This is impossible — this is not going to happen, why should we travel that far?'” he says. “Here we are — I think it’s all about time, time is the biggest healer.”
Hadhad says he’s not trying to downplay what’s happening now — many people are getting sick from an invisible enemy — but we have to stay grounded and resilient.
He says his business, like many others, has been impacted; they’ve shut down their storefront, and their factory is being run solely by family members.