Sarah Evenson and Blake Kirkwood are an aerial acrobatic duo who perform at the Queen Kapiolani Hotel in Honolulu. They are partners (and a couple) who work together, flawlessly dancing in the air for audiences each night.

Since arriving in Hawaii they have become some of the most popular performers of the Honolulu scene, and they are one of the biggest attractions.

鈥淚 really couldn鈥檛 imagine being anything other than an aerialist,” Sarah explains. “Its brought us to Hawaii, its brought us to 鈥楢loha Live鈥� in beautiful Diamond Head, and we get to work together and have a life,鈥� Sarah said.

If you want a flavor of their work 鈥� and to understand that aerial acrobatics isn’t just a job, it is a way of life 鈥� check out our latest slideshow.

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鈥淎s Kakaako changes, we don鈥檛 know what鈥檚 going to happen, but right now all we want to do is cover that whole neighborhood with art and make it more colorful,鈥� he told Civil Beat in a recent interview.

The 30-year-old artist created , an organization of contemporary artists who have been painting murals on the walls in the Kakaako neighborhood with permission from Kamehameha Schools and the owners of the properties.

The endeavor hasn’t been without controversy though.

鈥淭here are a lot of people within the neighborhood that think we are destroying it through art but at the end of the day, all we are really doing is putting paint on walls,鈥� Wong said. 鈥淏efore, Kakaako was a place where you would go to just go to Fisher鈥檚 or Comp USA and if you got lost in there you were like 鈥楬oly hell, how do I get out of this hell hole?鈥� Nowadays, we see kids walking around, taking pictures, trying to find art.鈥�

The Pow Wow idea came to Wong when he ran a gallery in Hong Kong, but had trouble bringing people through the doors.

鈥淎 lot of galleries or museums, they鈥檙e not as approachable,” he said. “There was some sort of barrier and by putting it out on public walls there was no way to avoid it. … So that鈥檚 what Pow Wow started, just trying to bring art to the people.”

Listen to Jasper鈥檚 story here:

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Now, the 32-year-old Iranian citizen calls Honolulu home and is probably not going to move back anytime soon.

He and his wife, Maryam 鈥淪aloome鈥� Asghari, said they are grateful their first move from their home country was to Hawaii.

鈥淧eople were under much more economic pressure,鈥� Nasseri said, recalling their first visit back to Iran last year. 鈥淎nd in terms of social, we could feel that pressure on everyone in the streets, on our family and our friends.鈥�

Nasseri is earning his doctorate in energy economic research at the University of Hawaii.

Listen to his story:

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Pake Zane was born on Maui in October 1941, but he doesn’t keep track of how many years it’s been since then.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 believe one should really be concerned with age,鈥� he said. “The more you鈥檙e concerned with it, the more you worry about it.”

As a 5-year-old, Zane tried to calculate how long it would take for him to travel around the entire world.

鈥淚 never did figure it out, but it took me 10 years,鈥� he said.

In that decade Zane traveled the Nile with Neil Abercrombie. He visited Barack Obama Sr., the president鈥檚 father, in West Africa. He lived on a houseboat in Amsterdam, selling dope for the government. He rebuilt 13th century homes in England, excavated Bronze in Thailand, was beaten in the streets of France and attended the coronation of a king in Nepal.

Zane moved back to Hawaii in 1973 with Julie, his travel partner and wife. Together they recycle cultural artifacts in their Honolulu store, Antique Alley.

鈥淢ost objects stimulate some kind of memory,” he said. “Whatever is made by man, I am willing to recycle it before it goes to the landfill.鈥�

Zane has many memories to share. Listen to a few in his story:

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鈥淏lindness is not a barrier to success,鈥� says Kyle Laconsay.

The Kaneohe resident has gradually been losing her vision since her late 20s, but hasn鈥檛 let it stop her from seeing the world with an optimistic view.

Laconsay has an eye disease called keratoconus that changes the shape of the cornea. She has had multiple unsuccessful cornea surgeries and now has complete blindness in her right eye and little vision in her left eye.

The definition of being 鈥渓egally blind鈥� is being unable to see greater than 20/200. But Laconsay says, 鈥渨hether you can only see a little bit or you can鈥檛 see at all, it鈥檚 all the same.鈥�

Laconsay is a trainer for the Business Enterprise Program at Hoopono Center for the Blind, helping blind people fulfill their dreams of owning or managing their own business.

鈥淭heir mission at Hoopono is to create a support system to help the blind become economically and socially independent by teaching them how to cook, read braille, learn technology and learn how to use a cane for mobility,鈥� Laconsay says.

Laconsay has been healthy all her life but two years ago her immune system attacked her liver, requiring a liver transplant within two months of her diagnosis. She proudly wears a green ribbon to show her support and gratitude for organ donation because without the transplant she doesn鈥檛 know if she would still be here today.

This unexpected surprise gave Laconsay a new outlook on life. She lives each day as if it were her last.

鈥淚f the sun is shining or it鈥檚 raining, you鈥檙e still here and you鈥檙e still living it,” she says. “It鈥檚 best to live life to its fullest.鈥�

Laconsay cherishes each day she gets to spend with her two children, husband and parents as well as her friends she has met through the blind community.

So the next time you have a first world problem, remember Laconsay鈥檚 story about how she trips in potholes, gets back up and keeps on walking.

Listen to her story:

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Ayako Ichiyama has plenty of stories to tell from the past 102 years.

Growing up on the Big Island, she recounted tales of picking poha and tangerines, camping on beaches and helping out at her parents’ store on the Hamakua Coast.

The humble centenarian lives with family in Honolulu now, but still stays busy. She goes to the at least five days a week where she exercises, makes crafts and socializes.

Ichiyama said she never really thought about what her secret is to such a long life. Part of it might have to do with making a habit of surrounding herself with nice, caring people.

Listen to her story:

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Meghan Leialoha Au wants to start a conversation about what people can do to make sure they’re in charge of their own health.

“My thesis work focuses on how stigma from the 1865 Hansen’s disease (leprosy) law stigmatized kanaka maoli in its enforcement and how that treatment has trickled down and shows up today in our lives as we live them out in terms of fatalistic health statistics like diabetes, cancer, criminalization and domestic violence too 鈥� all as byproducts of colonization and occupation 鈥� of our minds, bodies and overall health,” she told Civil Beat.

Au is in the process of earning her master’s degree from Kamakakuokalani, Center for Hawaiian Studies at University of Hawaii-Manoa.

She is focusing on traditional Hawaiian techniques to help with the healing. Lomi lomi is the Hawaiian word for massage and laau lapaau is the study of Hawaiian medicinal plants.

鈥淏oth are in the same vein of healing,鈥� said Au, a lomi lomi practitioner and owner of .

Au practices pa ola lomi lomi, a Hawaiian holistic healing technique taught to her by kumu lomi lomi Enrick Ortiz Jr. And she has created her own line of laau lapaau that she calls 鈥淗erbal Stinker,鈥� describing the earthy pungent scent.

Listen to her story:

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Volunteering has brought Jean Carr opportunity, excitement and life-long friends.

The average daily life is too scheduled, she told Civil Beat in a recent interview. People should volunteer somewhere to break free from their daily routine, she added.

She has been with the Friends of Hanauma Bay Education Program since its creation in 1990. She is the only volunteer left that has been with the program since the beginning and still volunteers every Monday morning at the beach desk.

Carr has also been a volunteer at the Waikiki Aquarium for 14 years and now volunteers every Tuesday at the Edge of the Reef.

Volunteering has taken Carr snorkeling throughout the Pacific, bicycling across Europe and hiking around each Hawaiian island twice.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 part of the reason I think I am at 86 still going, I鈥檓 not just sitting at home,鈥� Carr said.

Listen to her story:

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Okinawan culture has captivated Alfred Kina since he was a child.

Growing up in Honolulu, his parents helped him explore the richness of their traditions. He went on to become an expert weaver and folklorist, and recently found theater to be yet another outlet.

Kina revels in the diversity of talents in Hawaii, which assure him that the next generation will carry on Okinawan culture.

“If I were to attempt laser-like conciseness to define what Okinawan culture means to me, it’d be ‘generosity,’ ‘restraint,’ ‘warmth’ and ‘excellence,'” he said.

Kina, who earned a master’s degree in fine arts from the University of Hawaii and a doctorate from Indiana University Bloomington, is a consultant on Okinawan textiles and culture. He has been invited to the Smithsonian Institute’s folklife events three times.

His recent work has involved advising on the production of “A Cage of Fireflies,” a play by Daniel Akiyama, which premiered at Kumu Kahua Theatre. He loaned the stage production a bolt of cloth he wove in the traditional kasuri style.

The play’s director, Phyllis Look, said Kina is also a performer in his own right: a certified Okinawan dance instructor and a student of the Okinawan koto.

“If I were to use a succint word to describe my current goal in life, it’d be ‘synergy,'” Kina told Civil Beat. “I think it is in concert with aspiring to weave as ‘translucent’ as possible. Meaning to be able to see through things, to perceive the ‘bigger’ picture, to see how everything in this awesome universe is really one.”

Listen to his story:

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When Alberta Pukahi first joined University of Hawaii campus security in 1987, she was one of only two women on the force.

Mindsets were different back then, she said. Female campus security officers were rare, and for a woman to rise to the rank of captain was unheard-of.

Despite the glass ceiling, Pukahi persevered. Today she is the first female campus security captain at UH. Pukahi, 52, of Kahuku, oversees a staff of about 40. About 25 percent are women.

Listen to her story:

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