Pippa Montgomerie (left), Senu Guruge (centre) and Amelia Ellis (right), are organising a commemorative mosaic honouring the role of women in war. Photo / Kaitlyn Morrell
Pippa Montgomerie (left), Senu Guruge (centre) and Amelia Ellis (right), are organising a commemorative mosaic honouring the role of women in war. Photo / Kaitlyn Morrell
Women’s war stories have long been “overlooked” — now three Tauranga students are changing that, one tile at a time.
Tauranga Girls’ College prefects, Senu Guruge (18), Amelia Ellis (17), and Pippa Montgomerie (17), are creating a commemorative mosaic to honour the often-overlooked role of women in the war.
They are collecting unused tiles and donations to put towards a 2m by 2m mosaic.
Through their studies, they noticed stories of women being left out, especially those who played vital roles.
They planned to create something lasting, giving those women their rightful place in history.
Senu Guruge, deputy head prefect of learning at Tauranga Girls’ College, said the concept of a mosaic was an “impactful” way to get a message across.
“You need every single piece to make the bigger picture, in the same way that every role people played in the war, including women on the home front, was important.”
Senu said using art in a colourful mosaic was something that people would look at.
“This is an important project in terms of honouring women who had a part to play in the war.”
The mosaic concept design will be made up of four key elements that the students had researched and sought advice from local historians.
It will feature a red cross/poppies honouring nurses and medical staff, a Defence Force symbol linking past and present, a dove symbolising the future and a woman in the field as a tribute to work on the home front.
The current concept for the mosaic is made up of four key elements that the students have researched and sought advice from local historians.
Community prefect Amelia Ellis felt no one was consistently shedding light on the importance of women in war.
“I feel like their roles were overlooked and never really acknowledged or given respect, which we really wanted to do with this.”
“If we don’t learn from the past, we are doomed to repeat it, which I feel is so important to make sure they are honoured.”
Community prefect Pippa Montgomerie told the Bay of Plenty Times that when learning about World Wars I and II in class, she had always felt “one step removed”.
“That’s definitely one of the reasons why we decided to do this project; we don’t want to overlook the sacrifices made, so many people gave up their lives.”
Pippa said the project’s message was about empowerment and equality.
Senu, Amelia, and Pippa - with a team of junior students - will spend their school holidays putting the mosaic together, but expect the project to finish in 2026.
Tauranga Girls' College principal Tara Kanji. Photo / Supplied
They had briefed the incoming team of prefects and worked closely with principal Tara Kanji, who will guide next year’s team.
Kanji said it was exciting that the mosaic was a heavily student-led project.
“What it’s doing is bringing history alive, and it’s a recognition of young people, while sometimes we think they’ve lost sight of the past, they are recognising what’s happening right now and how it connects to the past.”
She said the project was a reflection of the path women had taken before the students, and it seemed right to have a memorial to women.
“What we’re doing is recognising the effort of women, full stop.”
The community can make contributions by dropping off red, green, cream or white, and blue or black tiles at the college’s front office.
Financial support can be deposited directly into the Tauranga Girls’ College bank account.
Kaitlyn Morrell is a multimedia journalist for the Bay of Plenty Times and Rotorua Daily Post. She has lived in the region for several years and studied journalism at Massey University.
