Jakarta – On the eastern side of Indonesia, behind the blue sea and majestic hills of Alor, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), there is a story about the spirit of chasing dreams that is no less beautiful. Although development is not evenly distributed, internet access is limited and educational facilities are incomplete, the children there still come every weekend to a simple house called Rumah Belajar Melang. This house is a place for children to study, read and share their dreams. The Melang Learning House, founded in 2021 by Elvie Padafani and three teaching volunteers, originally had rattan woven walls. Scroll TO CONTINUE CONTENT Now, thanks to support from the local government, the building is stronger with brick walls, but the floor is still carpeted. The facilities inside are still limited, with minimal bookshelves, a small collection of books and simple teaching aids. Every Saturday and Sunday, the Melang Learning House is open to local children. They learn to read, write, basic Indonesian and English, and make handicrafts that are sold to local residents. Photo: doc. Polygon Bikes From that small space was born a spirit of togetherness: middle and high school kids taught their younger siblings who were still in elementary school, while Elvie accompanied them wholeheartedly without getting a single penny. “We founded the Melang Learning House, not because we have a lot of money, but so that children have a place for positive activities while internet access is limited here. We want them to still have space to learn, open up to the world, and not lose their enthusiasm,” said the founder of the Melang Learning House, Elvie Padafani, in a written statement, Thursday (12/12/20). Elvie’s story is what moved the young content creator from Temanggung, Alwi Johan Yogatama (@alwijo), to take a trip from Central Java (Central Java) to Alor. He went on this four-month trip not because he ran out of money, but to have a meaningful trip while raising funds to renovate the Melang Learning House. “This is an educational institution where Alor children can learn to read and dream. Even though their enthusiasm is high, access to remote locations, facilities are still limited, and the book collection is not large,” said Alwi. During his trip, Alwi saw firsthand how development gaps are still real: the lack of clean water, limited transportation and children walking across rivers to go to school. From there he understood the true meaning of the journey, that small steps, taken together, can lead to big changes. “It opened my Java-centric mind. School children here have to walk for an hour to go to school, and then work to gather firewood to make ends meet,” Alwi said. “In Java, after school, students usually play online games,” he said. Polygon bicycles: building mobility means building the nation’s future Van Alwi also understands that the most important meaning of travel is not the speed of travel, but how much impact we share with every kilometer pedaled. “This support is for the children of Alor to be able to dream as high as possible, because even if we fall, we will fall among the stars,” said Alwi. Alwi shared this touching story on his Instagram page @alwijo on Saturday (6/12), which was immediately flooded with positive comments. “Hopefully these little brothers will be more enthusiastic about school and I hope you will always be happy and stay healthy, I hope you will always be surrounded by good things,” wrote the account @kjw._o. Photo: doc. Polygon Bikes Inspired by this spirit, Polygon Bikes participated through the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) program by distributing five bicycles to Rumah Belajar Melang, one of which was for Elvie. This support is expected to facilitate Elvie’s mobility, which relied on her old motorcycle, as well as help children who walk long distances to school or home to study. “For us, children’s education is the basic foundation of the nation’s progress. Unfortunately, not all children in Indonesia get this golden opportunity,” said Polygon Bikes Brand Marketing Alda Miranda. “There are still many of them who struggle to go to school, even though they remain enthusiastic. By building good mobility, we hope to also be able to build a good future for our children,” he continued. “We also want to express our deepest gratitude to Sister Alwi, who had a big heart to reach the children in Alor with her Nebeng program,” concluded Alda. This CSR action is one of Polygon’s many ongoing actions to support the spirit of the nation’s children to conquer borders. Because every small step we take is a big journey for the nation, Indonesia can be with Polygon. Polygon Together with the Task Force to help Aceh and Sumatra disaster survivors Apart from supporting the Melang Learning House, Polygon also donated seven units to the task force dealing with floods and landslides in Sumatra. Through the non-profit organization World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and the Indonesian Ministry of Industry, the bicycles were distributed to speed up the distribution of basic necessities, evacuate victims, make it easier to monitor flood spots and reach affected areas that are difficult for motorized vehicles to pass. Donating bicycles as a form of Indonesian solidarity can help them amid problems with access to transport and mobility due to disasters. “Even if it is not much compared to the damage there, we hope that this small donation can facilitate their steps to help people affected by the disaster,” said Alda. (prf/ega)