UPDATE: Good news came Thursday, March 8, for Democratic Republic of Congo native Toto Kisaku, who appeared at the Newark Asylum Office in Lyndhurst, New Jersey, to hear the disposition of his request for asylum. The verdict? Granted. “I feel very, very peaceful,” Kisaku said by phone this afternoon. “It was very exciting driving to New Jersey—so far away—taking a seat and waiting for the decision. The first thing they did is congratulate me.” The 39-year-old performance artist said he will now have more freedom to travel and connect with people around the country and in Europe to develop and showcase his art, which has drawn international attention for shedding light on the shocking persecution of Congolese children.

A Middletown artist from the Democratic Republic of Congo who was nearly executed while incarcerated in his home country found out this week that his request for asylum had been granted, with the help of students at the Quinnipiac University School of Law in Hamden.