Alan and Otto, victims of homophobia, are ready to leave prison — if donors allow
Imprisoned pair are among 13 LGBTI detainees that Project Not Alone aims to set free
By Courtney Stans
Alan and Otto share a love that landed them in prison. Both men are cooks who fell in love at the hotel where they had worked side-by-side since 2021 in the city of Mfou, Cameroon.
Love like theirs is a crime in Cameroon, so are now incarcerated in the Mfou prison, serving a six-month sentence that has been extended because neither man has enough money to pay the fine of 200,000 CFA francs (about US $328) that was imposed on each of them. For their safety, they are identified here by pseudonyms instead of their real names.
Alan, age 22, and Otto, age 39, are two of the 13 prisoners who are the focus of this site’s Project Not Alone. Those seven gay men, four lesbians and two trans women in Cameroon and Nigeria are all locked up for whom they love — and nothing else. Project Not Alone is seeking donations to feed and free them.
For Alan and Otto, their ordeal began last fall when their love caught the eye of a prejudiced regular customer at the hotel, who complained to the hotel owner. The owner, in turn, complained to police.
They were arrested in October 2022, jailed, put on trial, convicted of violating Article 347-1 of the nation’s Penal Code, fined, and sentenced to six months.
Alan is tall and composed despite the difficult circumstances he is going through. Otto is shorter and similarly serene, confidently anticipating his delayed release from prison.
They could be released right now if they had enough money to pay their fines. Project Not Alone is raising money to pay those fines so the men will not have to remain in prison for four months to pay them off.
The project is seeking donations totaling $11,891 to feed and free the 13 prisoners. That amount includes money for fines and court costs of convicted prisoners such as Alan and Otto; for legal expenses of attorneys working pro-bono for detainees who have not yet been tried; and for deliveries of hygiene supplies and supplementary food to make the prisoners’ lives more bearable during the months while they await release from their dirty prison cells, surviving on one filthy, poorly cooked meal a day.
So far, generous readers have donated a total of $2,971.
For more information about this year’s Project Not Alone, click here.
St. Paul’s Foundation for International Reconciliation, the financial sponsor of this site and Project Not Alone, collects U.S. tax-deductible donations for the project and transfers 100 percent of them to Cameroon and Nigeria to feed and free the LGBTI prisoners there.
Your donation is needed. Taken together with others’ gifts:
- $20 is enough to cut a prisoner’s sentence by one week.
- $100 is enough to cut that sentence by 5 weeks.
- $200 is enough to cut that sentence by 10 weeks.
- $333 will pay that fine in full, eliminating the entire extra 16 weeks of imprisonment. (To be clear: Paying the fine in full is needed to set the prisoners free early, which is why many donations are needed.)
- $8 will pay for a sack of onions for a delivery to prisoners.
- $23 will pay for a large sack of peanuts to be shared by prisoners.
- $18 will pay the prison admission fee for the two LGBTI activists delivering food to LGBTI prisoners.
- $36 will pay both the entrance fee and the LGBTI activists’ cost of transportation to and from the prison.
U.S. tax-deductible donations to Project Not Alone 2023 may be made via:
- The “Donate” button on the Facebook page of the St. Paul’s Foundation (Our favorite because Facebook charges us no transaction fees, but the button might not appear on mobile devices.)
- PayPal
- DonorBox
- By sending a check to St. Paul’s Foundation, 21 Marseille, Laguna Niguel CA 92677 USA.) Please write “Project Not Alone” on the memo line.
Courtney Stans, the author of this article, is a Cameroonian journalist who writes under a pseudonym. Contact her at info@76crimes.com.
