Coldplay in Kenya

You have most likely heard of Coldplay. If you haven’t, you might have been living in a box under the stairs Harry Potter style. They are played in the West on the radio, on people’s iPod’s and iPads, from computers and from CD’s. They are so well known that they are practically a house-hold name.

However, I highly doubt that you have ever heard it being sung in a remote village in the Coastal Province of Kenya by children no higher than your waist. I certainly hadn’t until I volunteered to be in charge of the Matunda Bora choir for one afternoon. Straying wisely away from my usual choice of Handel, Rachmaninoff and Bach, Fix You by Coldplay was opted for and so there we sat, guitar in hand and the lyrics scribbled precariously on the blackboard.

Katy and Eric teaching Coldplay

Coming from a Cathedral Choir in England, the singing was slightly questionable insofar as volume and style were concerned but it really was incredibly good fun. Not usually inclined to outbreaks of sentimental emotion, sitting on the dirt ground with children who could barely read my handwriting in front of them was pretty magical and therefore, surprising.

Katy Baxter – community volunteer

Coldplay in Kenya