From Sardinia to Taiwan: A Child's Unbreakable Bond with His Land

There are bonds that defy distance, roots that remain strong even when life takes you far away. For almost 14 years Michele Ruju, born in Cagliari and raised in Sassari, has lived in Taiwan, where he has built his life with his wife, also Sardinian. Two children, Oliviero and Linda, aged 10 and 7, who unlike their parents were born and raised in Taipei, but the love for Sardinia runs strong in their veins.

Every summer, in the months of July and August, they return to the Island, trying to fill the void that ten months of separation inevitably leave. It's not enough, but it's enough to nurture a deep sense of belonging in their children.

Last summer, the Ruju family decided to immerse themselves in Nuragic history, visiting some of the most evocative archaeological sites in Sardinia: the majestic Santu Antine in Torralba, the Nuraghe Losa and the early Christian complex of Santa Cristina.

Oliviero and Linda were fascinated by those ancient buildings. Oliviero, in particular, has a boundless passion for history. And when my father told him about the nuraghi and the civilizations that have crossed Sardinia over the centuries, his curiosity was sparked. He started asking questions, wanting to understand how Sardinia was intertwined with the routes of the Mediterranean.

A few weeks later, at school, his teacher asked the students to do a research on a place dear to them . Oliviero had no doubts: he chose Sardinia. The result was a small masterpiece, a tribute to his homeland through the eyes of a child born thousands of kilometers away.

In his drawings, Sardinia comes to life with simplicity and sweetness. He told the geography of the province of Sassari, he described the crystalline sea that every summer attracts visitors from all over the world, he represented a nuraghe and explained, with the precision that only a passionate child can have, the thousand-year history of the Nuragic civilization.

Traditions could not be missed: he remembered a festival in his city, Sassari, with people in traditional clothes (perhaps the Candelieri, which he saw a few years ago) and paid homage to Sardinian gastronomy with a dish very dear to him, the Seadas, a fried pastry filled with cheese, served with honey or sugar and lemon.

In those drawings, in those written words offered to his classmates with dedication and love, there is Sardinia, seen with the pure gaze of a child who, even though he lives far away, feels within himself the belonging to this land.

Oliviero's work shows that roots do not break with distance, but can become bridges that unite cultures, histories and generations.