Ajana, walking through Lithuania on crutches: “I had to take a break, but my wounds won’t stop me!”

A. Lolat, who has been living with a diagnosis of cerebral palsy since birth, has already proven that with strong persistence you can not only learn to walk, but also achieve a Guinness record.

This she did in 2022, in less than 10 hours. walking 14.5 kilometers with crutches. A month ago, Ajana decided on an even more difficult “Walk of Dreams” – a 320 km journey on crutches through Lithuania.

The purpose of the walk is not only to communicate with the public about the fact that disability is not a sentence, but also to collect funds for the self-established “Mulan Foundation”, which trains assistant dogs – irreplaceable helpers of people with disabilities, according to the press release.

“I have no doubt that many did not believe me. Maybe only my husband, who knows what I am like, and Mulan, a German shepherd, who unconditionally supports any of my ideas,” says Ajana, who has already walked 183 kilometers.

Mulan is one of the canine assistants. Before the mission, the commission rated her preparation with the highest marks. A. Lolat says that the dogs prepared thanks to her foundation and canine experts really become very important companions of people with disabilities: they sense impending seizures and react to them, stop a person from taking a dangerous step, bring a blind person home, can take off shoes, take off socks, give a request thing, turn off the lights, and finally it is a friend who is always there, because it is isolation that pushes people with disabilities into depression.

“Had to take a break, but my wounds won’t stop me!”

With her “Walk of Dreams”, Ajana collects money for the training of such dogs. It costs over 20 thousand euros and lasts three years.

“I know we’re all counting money, but I also believe that when we have a goal, together we can achieve a lot.” For this hike, we made stylish t-shirts, designed for free by the artist Martynas Ivinskas. I want you to put this shirt on and see yourself in the mirror as a completely beautiful person who doesn’t always have someone else’s problems,” says A. Lolat.

So far, she has met a lot of such people on her journey.

“That warmth is surprising to the core. I keep asking people how they understand what we’re going for. These are very different versions: that everyone can do more than what they can’t, that that community, unity is important for us, – shares Ajana.

– I met a teacher who told me that she had read a passage to the children about how a girl with cerebral palsy learned to ride a horse. She says: “Why do we know about foreigners and not about our own people?” We need to know more about what is happening in our country.” By the way, I am also often supported as a foreigner because of my name, but no – I was born in Usėnai.”

Ajana has no doubts that she will return from this trip different, because she gained an indescribable experience here. “There were also very bad weather conditions, the plans were hampered by the sudden fall of snow. There were also extremely difficult sections of the trip, when I thought that we would be blown off the road by the passing “furos” that cause hellish gusts of wind. But I am not alone on the road: volunteers, shooters, and scouts are marching together. I trust them, I met fantastic people”, says Ajana.

On the way, local residents greet her, rush to give her gifts: knitted socks, honey, soup, sweets, offer her a place to stay, and even light the house if it’s colder.

“It just so happened that after walking 100 km, I found myself at Zypliai Manor. It was a truly royal reception, they also surprised us with a special dessert with the number 100, put 100 cookies on the trip, we spent the night there like gentlemen, I felt the sincere attention of the “Kuchmistra” employees,” says Ajana.

She spent the night in the manor together with her husband who joins her on weekends – paralympian, member of the golf team Justas Pažarauskas and Mulan. This hike is not easy for Vilkšuna, because she has to walk, and Ajana walks slowly on crutches – a maximum of 10 kilometers a day, starting early in the morning, stopping several times to rest and finishing the day’s plan late in the evening.

“When Justus and I went to dinner, we left Mulan in the room. But she is an independent girl, she opens the door herself, so she soon joined us,” Ajana smiles.

When asked what myths were broken during the hike, the woman mentions anecdotes about the people of Suvalki. “I was flattered by their kindness. And they themselves asked: “Where did you get the idea that Suvalki people are stingy?” We are not stingy, we are thrifty, but hospitable. We don’t have kissy people, more people who will open their hearts, accompany, help and protect”, says Ajana.

There were also moments when I had to swallow a lump. “It’s hard to hold back tears when you see children walking and singing. He says – listen, your song! And pulls “Three million”, and so out of spite. I almost cried a couple of times because someone has been singing this song since the beginning of the hike. There’s such a sense of pride that it’s about us, that we’re coming together to create something like this. Out of nothing.

Who is naughty, who is quieter, who is louder, who is 15 years old, who is 50, but we all sing and go. Or we laugh. Or we discuss life, assistant dogs. There is hope that the Mulan Foundation project will not be lost as people learn more about our activities.

I won’t be able to work for the rest of my life, so the hope for continuity is very important, that those kids grow up and don’t push each other, that they’re not hostile and don’t throw tomatoes at people like me.”

She covered certain sections of the track with the blind. “What’s the experience like when you become lazy?” We held hands and pushed forward to the sound ahead, and when I have a steady hand by my side, I can take a break from my crutches.

I don’t even know who married whom, – Ajana smiles. – Justus and I often walk like this, then he becomes my pillar, and I somewhat become my eyes. Because anyway, both of us are more guided by sounds than sight: it’s easier with crutches, because you can’t turn your head or even look far ahead when walking with them: you look under your feet to avoid a stone or a hole, and you orient yourself in the environment by hearing.”

She is accompanied on her journey not only by people, but also by a camper, in which she spends hours of rest, often nights. The hiker smiles when she remembers that she originally planned to spend the night in a tent and cook over a campfire with the scouts.

“I planned this way because the rental fees for campervans seemed prohibitive to me, but then “Bitė” and TV3 appeared, and everything became possible. On the other hand, I’m still not giving up hope of sleeping in a tent and roasting potatoes on a campfire for at least one night, because so far the trek is quite modern, I’m looking forward to a bit more of a wild spirit.

I am told that it has almost disappeared and even scouts rarely cook those potatoes, but I am still hopeful, – laughs A. Lolat. – On the other hand, the most difficult thing, as a girl, is to walk without washing your head and keep hoping that maybe today we will find such a miracle as a shower somewhere. We have it in the camper, but we save water. Maybe that exoticism is already enough.”

The Guinness record holder says that everything is fine while she is hiking, and when the kilometers for the day end and she needs to climb a few steps to the camper, she feels severe fatigue.

“When we return to the camper, we don’t burn any incense, we don’t have any rituals, because like all adults, after the track, the driver and I first “give ourselves” to our mothers and then we go to sleep. We really give a lot of energy during the day so that people meet us smiling, friendly, grateful, and not sour, tired and angry.”

However, painful physical challenges are also hidden under the smile: blisters rubbed during the first week of the hike became quite a problem in the long run.

“I don’t knowmaybe I’m so used to it that I don’t feel anything anymore. Because sometimes your hands hurt like hell, sometimes you have a blistered leg, but you still go and forget about it until you sit down at the end of the day. Usually, I get enough rest during the night and when I wake up I feel like a fresh cucumber, but the four blisters that appeared on my foot started to burst and became a wound that does not bode well.

It was with us that day that the director Arūnas Matelis, who has the practice of a pilgrim, – both he and the accompanying shooters advised him not to joke and to visit a medical facility. That’s how I ended up at the surgeon.

He examined it, bandaged it, we agreed on how I would continue to take care of my leg, but first I was taken out of the hike for a few days and put to bed. But from Sunday I am allowed to continue marching, and I will, because no wounds will stop me!” assures Ajana.

You can support her in the “Walk of Dreams” and contribute to the training of dog assistants by purchasing a special shirt at mulanfondas.lt or by calling the short numbers: 1415 (10 euros) and 1416 (5 euros).