In 2017, she and her family began new lives in Dunedin, after escaping war-torn Syria.
However, for their family and friends back home, every day brings more death, more suffering, and the constant fear of bombs.
Syria has been in a state of civil war since 2011.
To raise awareness of their plight, Tahani’s parents, Fadi Shahoud and Chadia AL Yousef, organised a protest march in Dunedin last week.
The march was particularly focused on the bombing of the region of Idlib, where many of their family live.
Through his daughter, Mariam, who translated for him, Mr Shahoud said he wanted people to know the reality of the situation.
"They’re in a cold place, they have no food to eat, there are no schools, no hospitals, no safe place."
Mariam, who was 8 when the family left Syria, remembered what it was like to experience bombings.
She was deaf for a week after one incident.
"You can’t even imagine," she said.
Their friend, Waad Alsaid, also left Syria and made Dunedin her home.
She said her loved ones in Syria were not rebels — they simply wanted a safe, free life.
Her brother-in-law, a dental student, was tortured and killed, she said.
Another brother-in-law escaped Syria by sea and sought asylum in Germany.
"He saw death many times," Mrs Alsaid said.
"We want something like democracy there, that was what made the regime angry and destroyed our life.
"Where is the justice?"
They were hoping to organise more marches in the future, to keep the situation in Syria at the forefront of people’s minds.
