Ukulele champions dubbed peacemakers

Dozens listened to children sing and play ukulele to celebrate Peace Day on Sunday at the University of Hawaii’s Oahu Urban Garden Center in Pearl City.

Haaheo Guanson, head of the Pacific Justice and Reconciliation Center, told the crowd that Peace Day may be only one day a year, but people can practice the tenets of peaceful living every day and pass them on to others.

"The first act of peacefulness is for us to smile," she said. "You are extending peace. … You want to act. This is one action that we can all extend."

During the seventh annual Peace Day Hawaii event, a husband-and-wife team of ukulele teachers, Roy and Kathy Sakuma, were honored as 2014’s Distinguished Peacemakers.

Roy Sakuma was a groundskeeper in Wai­kiki in 1971 when he launched the Ukulele Festival, which celebrated its 44th anniversary this year. The Saku­mas, who have been married 37 years, created Ukulele Festival Hawaii, a nonprofit that pre­sents annual ukulele festivals on Oahu, Hawaii island, Kauai and Maui.

The group has a mission "to bring laughter, love and hope to children and adults … through the music of the ukulele."

Jeannie Lum, co-chairwoman of the volunteer committee that organized the event, said the Saku­mas were chosen because of their work on creating a culture of peace.

Lum, who is also a UH associate professor of peace education, said that since the end of the Cold War, the peace movement has shifted from anti-war ideals to a more New Age perspective, concerned about peace with oneself, the global community, the environment and the cosmos.

"Peace is really how you feel on a daily basis, how you experience happiness, your well-being, and your relationships with others," she said. "Whatever your thoughts are, those kinds of signals are going out into the world."

She added, "We want people to realize that every action, every part of their lives and their attitude is part of being able to put that energy into the world."

Peace Day was established by the state Legislature in 2007 to coincide with the United Nations International Day of Peace.

Kathy Sakuma, 60, said the award represents how something as small and ordinary as the ukulele has the power to unite people.

"The ukulele has brought so much to our lives," she said. "When we play together, we create harmony and we build a better world."

Roy Sakuma, 67, told the crowd that ukulele virtuoso Herb Ohta saved his life by teaching him how to play the ukulele when Sakuma was 16. He said he only finished the eighth grade after struggling with mental illness in his family.

"I was just a lost child," Sakuma said. "The ukulele … it brought me so much joy, and I couldn’t put down this instrument."

He said the ukulele was still considered a toy in the 1960s when he was learning to play.

"I loved the ukulele so much that I taught when nobody wanted to learn," he said.

Besides teaching ukulele, he gives speeches to children and the military about life lessons and love. He hopes the peace award will give him the opportunity to give more motivational speeches in schools.

In closing, he spoke about forgiveness and how it can help one heal by releasing emotional baggage.

"The greatest gift that you can give to others is love because it allows others to give you love," he said.