"Objective judgement, now, at this very moment. Unselfish action, now, at this very moment. Willing acceptance - now, at this very moment - of all external events. That's all you need."
Marcus Aurelius
Yesterday, December 30th, my car was broken into in Nairobi CBD. I had parked at Hazina Trade Centre in Nairobi, where my vehicle was searched at the entrance by guards from Hatari Security before I was allowed in. I parked in the basement, locked the car, and went upstairs.
The break-in happened between 11:25am and 12:25pm - the 1 hour I was away.
When I returned to the car, I found the left front passenger window broken and the vehicle ransacked.
They stole equipment- but that's not what hurts the most. What was taken were my hard drives, containing over two years of personal projects and active client work. Stories, footage, edits, archives - over 20TB of work I was trusted to keep safe. I was literally on my way to back them up.
The data is irreplaceable.
That's what I want back more than anything. If whoever took them sees this:
Please keep the equipment. Just return the hard drives. The work matters more than the gear.
A reward will be offered for the safe return of the hard drives - no questions asked.
They can be dropped off anonymously.
To fellow creative - please back up your work. Twice. Then again. Learn from my pain.
If anyone comes across abandoned hard drives, SD cards, or a KCAA-branded backpack, please reach out. Even anonymously.
This one hurts. Deeply.