The Problem

Preschool education is one of the most powerful tools for social change. Around the world, quality preschool is limited to the most fortunate children. We aim to bridge that gap.

Why preschool?

Preschool education yields enormous lifelong returns in health, wellness, education, employment, and more.

-Yet today, the most marginalized children around the world systematically lack access to preschool education.

Who are the Baka?

Two Rabbits was built by and for the Baka, creating a model with global application for marginalized communities. Understanding their story is key to understanding our work and our name.

The Baka are an indigenous group of hunter-gatherers who have lived in the forests of Eastern Cameroon for millennia. Their identity is deeply connected to a disappearing forest, due to logging, mining, and poaching. They routinely face discrimination in society, including in school. Schooling is in French, which Baka children do not speak at home, making learning inefficient. Many Baka children experience bullying from teachers and classmates alike, who believe that their ancestral way of life is outdated and primitive. Daily schooling is incompatible with Baka children’s semi-nomadic rhythm of foraging activities. As a result, Baka children tend to drop out of school before acquiring basic academic skills. With poor literacy and only basic French, the Baka are unable to participate in decision-making forums that affect their lives, or seek redress for rights violations.

The Two Rabbits

A Baka father said that his daughter needs the forest-based education of her ancestors before her, as well as school-based education to read, write, and speak French, in order to engage with others on an empowered footing. However, he said that pursuing both educations is like “chasing two rabbits at once”- if you try, you will lose both.