By Doug Binder, The OregonianJoash Osoro huddled in the darkness of the one-room mud hut, his belly sore from hunger and his hands covering his ears to block out the shrieking noise.
Home alone, 9 years old, the skinny boy with almost nothing lived in fear of the night runners -- a real-life manifestation of his darkest nightmares.
Osoro clung to life, and hope, in southwestern Kenya after the death of his father and mother to AIDS.
The distance he has traveled -- literally and figuratively -- to reach the University of Portland, and today's NCAA Cross Country Championships in Terre Haute, Ind. is considerable by any measure.
Osoro, 20, came to UP after four years in the secure embrace of an adoptive family in Bismarck, N.D., where he discovered his talent for running. As a freshman this fall for the Pilots, Osoro has blossomed into one of the top distance runners on the West Coast. He was eighth at the NCAA West Regional meet on Nov. 14 in Springfield.
"He has surpassed any preconceived idea I had about how good he is," UP cross country coach Rob Conner said. "He hasn't run a race perfectly yet. Every time he comes back from a race he recognizes small errors that he made."
And yet the storyline of his development as a runner pales in comparison to the gripping tale he tells of a boy scratching out a meager existence. The trials of Osoro's youth have preconditioned him to strive and focus and work at a level beyond his peers.
After Charles Osoro died when Joash was 6, and Yvoncia Kwaboka perished two years later. Extended family proved unable, or unwilling, to take in Joash and his two older brothers, Rogers and Calvin. As orphans of AIDS victims, they felt ostracized.
Rogers entered a technical school in the city. Calvin started a private boarding school and came home only on the weekends.
That left little Joash to survive primarily on his own.
His father had left them a small plot, perhaps an acre, on which to grow corn. Joash watched neighboring farmers and copied them, tilling soil, planting seed, pulling weeds.
Joash taught himself how to cook when he was 4, turning corn meal into ugali -- a staple food in Kenya.
Joash attended public school, walking several miles each way and studying as hard as he could, just as he had promised his beloved mother on her deathbed.
Her words served as a beacon in the dark years after her death.
"Be good kids. Follow your heart. If you feel that something is wrong, don't do it," Joash remembers.
Survival had to come first, but Joash was steadfast that he would not steal.
"I would rather go hungry than get my hand chopped (off)," Joash said.
Over time, he managed to acquire a few chickens and used their eggs as currency to buy vegetables and to have his corn milled into flour. He didn't dare eat any of the eggs. They were too valuable. He existed on one meal a day.
When Joash was 13, Calvin received the opportunity of a lifetime. He befriended a missionary who had connections at a Catholic church in Bismarck, N.D. Church members Mark and Patti Armstrong, when they learned of Calvin's plight as a promising student with no parents, were moved to adopt him despite having eight children of their own.
Meanwhile, Joash persisted on his own. He continued to put effort into school, but found that the work to stay alive sometimes superseded his interest in doing homework.
He grew more accustomed to the nighttime raids of the night runners, bands of men and women who run through the village, yelling and pelting homes with rocks. It is a local custom associated with witchcraft, Joash said.
Joash made sure he was locked in his home, with all of the windows shuttered and lights off, by 7 p.m. each night to avoid the night runners' harassment.
Two years passed and Calvin impressed upon the Armstrongs the concern he had for his younger brother, fending for himself back home.
The family extended their generosity once again, offering to bring Joash to the United States and adopt him, if he remained in school.
Leaving wasn't easy.Even though Joash was leaving behind a life of poverty, the chickens, pigeons and cat that had become valued pets tugged at him. Rogers agreed to look after the animals. Joash readied himself for a trip to the unknown.
In North Dakota, Joash was overwhelmed by bountiful food choices he saw everywhere.
"I remember thinking 'They drink milk like it is water!'" he said.
Joash reunited with his brother. He entered the ninth grade, but tested at a fourth grade reading level.
The Armstrongs braced for burden but found a new blessing.
"Joash is a gift to us," Mark Armstrong said.
For the first time in his life, Joash was exposed to organized sports. He tried soccer, then basketball. In the spring he came out for track and ran.
It was comical at first. Joash sprinted off the starting line of a mile race and was exhausted by the final lap when the other runners caught him.
But with a little more practice, Joash discovered he had talent. And he had drive -- the characteristics that led him to scratching for survival now were channeled toward running goals.
Joash pressed through harsh winters with sub-zero temperatures, putting in the work necessary to improve his personal best times. He also progressed in the classroom, moving into Advance Placement courses by his senior year.
As a sophomore he placed second in the North Dakota state cross country meet. As a senior he was on the national recruiting radar and placed third at the Nike Cross Nationals cross country event at Portland Meadows last year.
Mark Armstrong, an Oregon grad, envisioned Joash running for the Ducks. But there was no scholarship available there.
But Joash visited the UP campus and quickly felt comfortable, particularly when he met Alfred Kipchumba, the Pilots' freshman star from Kenya. By the end of the visit he was certain he wanted to be a Pilot.
Joash is one of 20 freshmen on Portland's roster this fall –most of them are walk-ons. Conner reports that Joash's first term grades will place him in the top five. He has become almost inseparable friends with UP's other standout freshman, Trevor Dunbar from Kodiak, Alaska.
It is a life that Joash scarcely could have imagined.
"I thank God for what he has done for me," Joash said. "My family and what they've done for me -- without their support I would be nobody."
In reflective times, such as when he attends Mass, Joash thinks of his mother, her words, and how his bleak prospects turned into a golden opportunity.
"I'm sure my mom is watching over me," Joash said. "I think she's there for me, guiding me sometimes."
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