Founded in 1997, TRP is the only organization representing and fighting for the rights of LGBT people in Namibia.

In 2001, the Namibia's most prominent women's organization, was burnt to the ground.  The arson was attributed to the fact that the organization was in the forefront of a campaign for gay and lesbian rights. It was a crucial campaign. Namibia's President had delivered a message to a university audience telling students that homosexuals should be imprisoned and deported. And government leaders declared that  " . . . homosexual ladies are like cancer or AIDS, and its spread must be stopped in Namibia."

The Rainbow Project is keenly aware of the plight facing lesbians-most of whom live double lives and have no support services. To prevent their lesbian sisters from disappearing into obscurity and poverty, The Rainbow Project runs Different Identities Group (DIG), a women's caucus group focusing focuses on lesbian, bisexual and transgender issues. These peer support and counseling workshops-hailed by women as a great success- take place in the country's capital, Windhoek.   

Many participants spoke of the many women living in remote and far off regions who were prevented from attending.  They called them, "the women back home." Distances between towns in Namibia are very far and public transport isn't always safe for women-particularly for lesbians. Even if traveling publicly were an option, many of TRP's members are unemployed, poor, or barely earning enough to cover their basic needs.

Recently the Rainbow Project purchased a van, which transports the "women back home" to DIG's meetings. They've gained a greater sense of safety and self; they've met other women and feel less alone.

The Project also operates a safe space for young people to socialize and discuss issues of safer sex, sexual identity, and life skills; a group for GBT men; and a speaker's bureau which trains members in verbal self-defense and confidence building.

Astraea's grant for $17,000 was made through the Social Change Opportunity Fund for DIG to purchase a van to transport women in isolated townships to support group meetings.

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