This has been a special month for Oakville business leader Rola Dagher. Last Thursday, Dec. 12, Dagher was awarded the country's highest honour by being invited to the Order of Canada.
The award is given to a Canadian that "makes extraordinary contributions to the nation". Dagher was given this great honour for her "incredible contributions to the fields of technology and business in Canada." "When I got the call a year and a half ago [that I would be given this award] I actually cried," Dagher said.
But her story does not begin here in Oakville, or even in Canada. Her story begins in war-torn Lebanon, where she escaped the country with her nine-month-old daughter and lived on the streets of Cypress before eventually become one of Canada's most successful Tech leaders. Her story is one of determination and strength, and to always have the will to work hard and push forward.
Dagher was born and raised in Lebanon during an ongoing war in the country. While having a nine-month-old child, she fled her home to escape the war and entered Cypress and slept on the streets for over a year just to escape the horrors occurring in her homeland. During her journey of escaping the war, Dagher lost contact with her parents who immigrated to Canada before she had: "When we lost communication because of the war," she says, "I thought I would never see my parents again.
" Thankfully she was able to make contact with her parents and let them know that she was still alive. Dagher was determined t.
