Welcome to our latest installment of Focus, Civil Beat‘s new audio-slideshow series celebrating the rich culture of our community.

We’re photographing and interviewing people from all walks of life and sharing their stories with you in a multimedia format. The goal is to highlight the diversity and depth of the people who call Hawaii home, and maybe we’ll see how our differences unite us.

Our last piece featured Kenny Endo, an internationally acclaimed taiko drummer. We’re staying musically inclined with Joe Souza, a longtime Kaneohe resident who makes world-class ukuleles.

We spent an afternoon with the retired firefighter at his shop, Kanilea Ukulele, where you can see how a stack of wood gets transformed into a beautiful instrument using saws, sweat, sandpaper and new technology.

If you have ideas for future subjects we should feature in Focus, please email them to neagle@civilbeat.com. We hope to add a new piece every other week.