When the video of a group of Uruguayan UN peacekeepers abusing an 18-year old boy Haiti first appeared on YouTube, I was woefully unsurprised. Back in 1998, I covered a similar story, only that time it was Pakistani peacekeepers.

That story stayed local, but the fact that this story was taped by the UN soldiers themselves and found its way on the Internet has catapulted it internationally. A more palatable version showing the troops holding down the young Haitian amidst raucous laughter appeared on ABC’s website. In Europe, the incident was touted as the Abu Ghrab of Haiti.

The investigative journalism training last weekend in Miragoane coincided with the town’s “fête patrimonial.” Still, it didn’t curb my enthusiasm for the training. Most of the nearly two dozen part-time journalists who participated are ‘correspondents’ for radio stations which are based in Port-au-Prince, some two hours away from this coastal town.