The Iraqis' Stories: Iraqi boy learning to navigate his expanding world

Tap, tap, swish, swish.

Holding the white cane in front of him, Muhammed "Hamoody" Hussein detects shapes looming in the perpetual darkness before him - a wagon with toys, other students, a turn in the school hallway and eventually an elevator door. He listens for the difference in sound as his cane hits hollow metal.

"This is the elevator," says Elizabeth Williams, his school aide. "Hear the difference?" Tap, tap, tap, tap.

It's the sound of Hamoody's expanding world - one where blindness could be reduced to a "physical inconvenience" rather than a handicap. For the 3-year-old who miraculously survived a gunshot wound to the face in his native Iraq, making his way through life with a white cane and Braille would be a wonderful victory.

There have been many smaller - though hardly insignificant - victories in the five months since the blind and disfigured boy was brought here by a nonprofit agency that put him in touch with volunteer doctors who hope to help repair his bullet-ravaged face.

While his medical problems turned out to be far more severe than the doctors first predicted, Hamoody has eased into life with his host family, Randy and Julie Robinett Smith of Snohomish. He attends preschool, is now fluent in English, plays soccer and has made friends. He wears striped Polo shirts, cargo pants, a wool coat and hat and has developed a love for books in Braille.

But many questions remain. Not only is it uncertain when he will return to Iraq, but doctors continue to assess the damage he suffered when his family was ambushed north of Baghdad. Little can be done to restore his sight and doctors have learned that the damage to his sinuses caused him to develop severe sleep apnea, which robs Hamoody of a night's rest and distorts his speech. The first of many surgeries the boy will face will involve bone grafts to correct the apnea.

Between the poking and prodding of doctors, Hamoody is enjoying and growing into a life that few children in his native Iraq can know.

Read the rest at the San Jose Mercury News