On Thursday, May 9th, National Football League (NFL) stars will ditch their shoulder pads to don soccer cleats for a match in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, in an international road safety campaign designed to curb traffic deaths among young people.

Philadelphia Eagles defensive tackle Ronnie Cameron, Carolina Panthers cornerback Drayton Florence Jr., former linebacker Akin Ayodele, who played for the Jacksonville Jaguars, Cowboys, Dolphins, Broncos and most recently the Bills, former Minnesota Vikings player Corey Chavous and former New York Giants linebacker Barrett Green will play a soccer match with local Haitian youth who have completed a road safety pedestrian safety course.

They will be joined by their sponsor Jack Brewer, a former NFL safety for the Minnesota Vikings, New York Giants, Philadelphia Eagles, and the Arizona Cardinals. He is the founder of the Jack Brewer Foundation, which supports educational and development initiatives in underprivileged communities.

This football game is one of a series of high-profile events the Inter-American Development Bank’s Youth Unit is promoting to supporT the UN Decade of Action for Road Safety, a program launched in 2011 with the mission of saving five million lives by 2020.

Road accidents are now the leading cause of death in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) among people aged 15 to 29, and the second leading cause of death for those aged 5 to 14. Traffic crashes also carry a large economic cost: many LAC countries lose 1–2% of their GDP annually because of the latter.

Although there are no national statistics for traffic fatalities in Haiti, experts say road accidents take a heavy toll among the young.

Rendezvous Thursday, May 9 (2:00 pm) for the football game : Haitian Youth vs. NFL Players, at the YMCA in Port au Prince in Laboule 12, Tara’s Petion-Ville

Youth who complete the IDB’s Do Your Part: Safe Roads for All road safety training will be invited to compete in this special sporting event sponsored by IDB Youth, YMCA Haiti, the Jack Brewer Foundation and One World Futbol.

BF/ HaitiLibre