Congolese artist sees big picture

In a Kansas schoolyard in 1979, alone in a crowd of children at play, Theodore Jonas Akonga made a discovery that would determine the course of his adult life.

Newly arrived in the United States, the 7-year-old from what was then Zaire, now known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo, was isolated from the other children by barriers of language and culture.

In that lonely place, Akonga found his voice and his calling.