Junior education major Jane Clark and her sister, Sara, a biology major, have a lot in common. They are both PLNU students and debate team members, they both aspire to be teachers, and they both work on an alpaca farm called Hazpaca Ranch.
Hazpaca Ranch, in San Diego’s Jamul area, is home to around 40 alpacas and several llamas. There, the Clark sisters have learned how to be ranch hands while gaining skills in veterinary care and educating children about alpacas and how to interact with them. For example, they share that alpacas each have their own personality, must all be sheared once a year, and always need at least one companion in order to thrive.
There have also been challenges to the job. Jane once bottle-fed a baby alpaca for weeks after its mother died from birthing trauma. Then, in summer 2020, the Valley Fire threatened Hazpaca Ranch.
“Before we knew it, our neighbors were evacuating, and the sky was covered with black smoke,” Jane recalled. “My employer, Mrs. Hazard, who is quite possibly the sweetest person alive, was forced to evacuate her property without her animals because it was too dangerous. As you could imagine, she was heartbroken, and both my sister and I vowed to protect her property. In one afternoon, we cleared everything surrounding the house, pens, and barns.”
Thankfully, the wind changed directions when the fire was just two miles from the Clarks’ house and both their home and the alpaca farm were spared. That experience, and her time at Hazpaca in general, have helped Jane appreciate her community and her sister more than ever.
