Naila Saadé, President of the CMA CGM Corporate Foundation, gave French association PHONAMBULE the 2016 CMA CGM Foundation Prize on Thursday December 8, at the CMA CGM Tower in Marseille.
This prize awards the extraordinary work of this association with its musical performances for young children who are hospitalized or disabled.
The PHONAMBULE association has been performing musical interventions for young children since 1998 in hospitals located in the South of France. It aims at using music as a therapeutic ally, to relieve the suffering of children and participate to their healing.
14 artists from the PHONAMBULE association walk around singing in hospital corridors each week in pediatric, neonatology, child surgery services etc. For the children, these musical interludes break the monotony of their daily routine in hospital beds, and help them handle their treatments with courage.
Each year, the association performs more than 200 times for around 15,000 people.
Naïla Saadé said: "We wanted to award PHONAMBULE for their long-term commitment to ill and disabled children, helping them overcoming suffering, relieving their pain and anxiety. Even if music is not medicine, it is part of the treatment because it creates a favorable environment to a child’s well-being and downplays his or her hospitalization."
The CMA CGM Foundation Prize was created in 2007. Each year it rewards two associations, one in France and one in Lebanon, for their involvement in social or humanitarian actions to help children in need.
Moreover, each year since 2011, the CMA CGM Foundation launches a call for proposals in France and Lebanon, and supports initiatives which address a specific issue.
In 2016, the Foundation already awarded 14 French and Lebanese associations whose projects promote the personal development of children with disabilities. This year 1,500 disabled children benefited from the CMA CGM Corporate Foundation support.