Port-à-Piment: residents march for hospital repairs as MSF hands an ambulance to the CAN

Residents and schoolchildren in Port-à-Piment, in Haiti's Sud department, marched through the town on Wednesday, November 4, 2026, to demand that the authorities repair the commune's hospital, which was badly damaged in the August 14, 2021 earthquake, Cayes Info reports. The lead banner, in Haitian Creole, called on the state to repair the Port-à-Piment hospital and appoint the staff needed to run it.

During the peaceful march, organised by Doully Jean Alex, participants appealed to Public Health Minister Dr Sinal Bertrand and Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé for state action on the hospital. The marchers also voiced concern about how long Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) will remain in the commune, given the organisation's role in providing health care to residents.

An ambulance for the National Ambulance Centre

The next day, Thursday, November 5, MSF Port-à-Piment handed a used ambulance to the National Ambulance Centre (CAN) in the Sud department, according to Cayes Info. At the handover ceremony, CAN officials said a shortage of vehicles had been a major constraint on the service. They expect the ambulance to strengthen the institution's ability to answer call-outs and provide emergency medical transport across the department.

MSF officials, including Dr Laurent Ndamulume Yewene, medical coordinator of the Port-à-Piment project, said the donation is part of the cooperation between the two institutions, which they said will continue. MSF runs a facility in Port-à-Piment dedicated to pregnant women and newborns.