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Haiti trip is a real eye-opener for Bermuda island's young footballers

BERMUDA'S Under-20 football players had a chance to see abject poverty up close and personal during their tour of Haiti last week.

And the players, who arrived back in Bermuda on Monday, were also in the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince last Friday during a demonstration against UN peacekeepers.

But they stayed in their hotel ahead of Saturday's match against the Netherlands Antilles. As assistant coach Paul Scope said: "We didn't see the demonstrations against the UN on Friday as we were basically under house arrest in our hotel.

"But it was evident that the UN troops are unpopular with many Haitians and tensions appeared to be high."

Bermuda lost all three qualifying matches for the Under-20 World Cup ? 11-1 against the hosts Haiti, 3-1 to Jamaica and 5-1 to the Netherlands Antilles.

National coach Kyle Lightbourne said: "There was a heavy UN presence there. Some of the Haitian people are not happy at all with the UN being there. They say the peacekeepers are causing more trouble than they are solving. We were aware of their presence ? that's for sure."

Lightbourne added: "It was a real eye-opening experience for our young players to see how people live in Haiti. Anyone here in Bermuda who feels a bit down should go to Haiti and see how they live ? they will feel better.

"When our players saw how the people down there lived and how poor they were they realised how fortunate they are to be living in Bermuda. The Haitians don't have anything ? no industry ? nothing. Everyone has to fight for a living."

Bermuda were forced to travel around the country to play their matches and had armed protection on their bus.

Lightbourne said: "We were well protected. We had two armed policemen on the coach. And most of the time we had policemen in front of the bus and policemen in the back ? we always had a police presence with us. That is up until the last day. The police presence disappeared which was surprising. They were probably needed for the protests."

Scope said: "Due to Lee Holder's (from the BFA) good work, we were always safe and secure, but the whole atmosphere was very intimidating for the young men who haven't travelled a lot and certainly have never experienced such devastation and desperation that is present-day Haiti."

Last Friday in Port-au-Prince hundreds of protesters marched through Haiti's largest slum to demand the withdrawal of UN peacekeepers. They accused the blue-helmeted troops of killing civilians during gun battles with street gangs.

Chants of "Down with the UN!" and "UN go home!" rose from the marchers who came within a few feet of a UN military base and shouted at Brazilian and Uruguayan troops standing guard at the entrance and atop six armoured personnel carriers ? rifles at the ready.

And although Haiti is one of the world's Although Haiti is one of the world's poorest countries, Bermuda's players and staff were impressed with the football facilities.

Lightbourne, who experienced Haiti for the first time in 1992 when he played for Bermuda in a World Cup qualifying match there, said: "I certainly had no problem with the facilities. The pitches were in excellent shape. But it was hot ? over 100 degrees at pitch level."

And Under-20 captain Keishen Bean said earlier this week: "We went to one of the poorest countries in the world and their national stadium and other facilities were much better than ours. And this was in Haiti."

But while the football facilities were very good, the rest of the country is in an appalling state. A drive across the capital Port-au-Prince one sees streets cratered by giant potholes.

Street children with swollen bellies beg for money, crying "I'm hungry" in Creole as they cluster around stopped cars. Few Haitians have electricity or running water. Jobs are scarce. Acrid black smoke rises day and night from burning tires thrown on trash heaps.

Haiti ranked 153 out of 177 countries in the UN's most recent report on global quality of life.

The demonstration last Friday was one of the largest displays of defiance towards UN troops in months and underscored rising opposition toward the international force, sent to quell violence in the impoverished Caribbean country after a 2004 revolt.

"We are really tired of hearing the UN's bullets. The people are suffering," said marcher Samuel Jean-Baptiste.

As the crowd swelled, a UN soldier tossed two smoke canisters into the street, scattering protesters in every direction.

"We want the UN troops out because they're killing the country!" yelled another protester, M'rise Sunvil.

THE 8,800-strong UN forced arrived in June 2004 to restore order after armed rebels toppled former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, Haiti's first democratically elected leader and a beloved figure among Haiti's poor masses.

Though peacekeepers won praise for helping organise February elections called to replace Aristide, poor slum dwellers increasingly accuse troops of killing innocents while clashing with gangsters.

UN troops say they only fire when attacked.

Cite Soleil, with a population of 300,000, is home to well-armed gangsters who have been blamed for fomenting violence to destabilise Haiti and clash frequently with UN troops.

Residents rarely speak out against gangs, fearful of reprisals. But many in Cite Soleil see the gangs as a minor threat compared to peacekeepers, who use high-powered weapons that cut through flimsy shacks, increasing civilian deaths.

As a result of the violence, Cite Soleil has been reduced to a warren of crumbling concrete buildings pocked with bullet holes ? including schools, hospitals and churches. Residents say getting hit with a stray bullet is their biggest fear.

"Look at what they do to us," said Virginie Jodie, 32, pointing at a grapefruit-sized hole in her house that she said was caused by gunfire from UN troops several days ago.

"We got down on the floor and prayed 'God, please don't let us die."'

A UN spokeswoman in Haiti declined to comment on the march, the second anti-UN demonstration within a week.

The first one saw dozens of university students take to the streets and light flaming tyre barricades to demand peacekeepers' withdrawal