If that's not busy enough, Dahya still finds time to support others.
The person who nominated her as the Whanganui Chronicle Person of the Year wrote:
"Doing all that plus running around helping people in all sorts of ways and some of those people Holly didn't really know them but she was there to help them. There are just too many things to mention. This is basically what this person is about."
Dahya, who was born and raised in Whanganui, said it's been "a journey" to get to where she is, with highs and lows over the years.
She began her social work degree in 2014, studying through Te Wānanga o Aotearoa, and graduated in 2017. Dahya said that after having her youngest child in 2016 then separating from her husband, she almost quit "but there was a lot of love and support around me".
Dahya then worked full-time in social work but in late 2019 decided to take a break to spend more time with her kids. Their many appointments are carefully scheduled in the ever-present phone.
Dahya is planning to look for a new job in 2021 and is also embarking on more study with the aim of completing her master's in three years, focusing on trauma and sexual abuse healing.
"I love to learn - I'm a bit of a study nerd. I'm really passionate about social issues."
This year Dahya was selected to present a paper on refugee issues, and how to better integrate refugees into communities, at a global social work and social education conference in Canada. Because of Covid-19, she was unable to attend so submitted it via video instead.
"I want to encourage manaakitanga when it comes to refugees and to get government bodies thinking more about how to implement policies."
Dahya hopes one day to work in the field of healing trauma for refugees.
How does she fit it all in?
"I really don't know - you just do."
Dahya said when she worked at Te Oranganui she had support from her "great" work colleagues, supervisor and manager as well as family and friends.
"Some people who have gone through the same stuff as I have wouldn't have that support," she said.
"I've been pretty lucky."
While Dahya has received plenty of support herself, she also gets called on by others.
"When people need me, I try to be there. We are here to help each other - I aspire to that as much as I can. It always comes back the other way. If we take care of each other then we're taking care of ourselves at the same time. A lot of people do things behind the scenes.
"I think my greatest aspiration would be to inspire other people, especially women, to find themselves. Even our men get stuck in relationships. I want to support people to find their place and their worth - that's a lot of what I did when I was working.
"The last four years have been the best, but the hardest, for me and the kids with flying solo.
"The kids are troopers. They're very intelligent and reflective. They do well academically but I'd describe them as 'old souls'."
Dahya said all seven - aged 15, 14, 12, 11, 9, 7 and 4 years - have strong personalities which can be challenging at times "but will serve them well in the future".
She said she wants to ensure everything she tries to achieve has a positive impact on her children.
• The Whanganui Chronicle Person of the Year winner will be revealed on Saturday, December 26.
Also in this series:
Runner-up: Sir Robert-Martin
Runner-up: Potaka Strongman
Runner-up: Dan Goldsworthy
