The United States may be the land of opportunity, but for immigrants and refugees, it can also be a land of language, cultural and financial hurdles.

Hana Al-Attar, 52, was born and raised in Iraq. She immigrated to the United States in 1980 and moved to St. Louis in 1998. Among the many differences she''s observed between her home country and her adopted one are attitudes about routine health screenings.

In Iraq, "there is nothing about all these things," says Al-Attar. That''s why she was surprised to learn about a local program that offers free breast health information and mammograms to St. Louis'' immigrant and refugee population.

The Daylight Project at Barnes-Jewish Hospital is funded by money raised through the Komen St. Louis Race for the Cure.

"The reason we call it Daylight is because we would like to move the disease of breast cancer from the dark into the daylight of hope, empowerment and understanding," explained Eva Enoch, the program''s outreach coordinator.

Convincing all American women of the importance of annual mammograms after age 40 remains a challenge. Enoch''s job is even more difficult. It involves reaching women who have recently arrived in this country to educate them about their breast health. Her target population includes women who may not speak English and may consider breast self-exams and mammograms culturally unacceptable, or may believe they cannot afford the screenings.

Still, organizers believe the program has had remarkable success. In its three years, more than 1,500 women have been counseled and 324 given free mammograms. Of those, 60 women required some kind of follow-up care paid by the program.

Much of the work identifying and reaching out to the immigrant population is done by the program''s so-called "wise women." These are specially trained women who go into the new refugee and immigrant communities and speak about the importance of breast cancer screenings and early detection.

The Daylight Project also offers interpreters and written information in 12 languages, from Arabic to French Congolese to Farsi.

Al-Attar was diagnosed with breast cancer after having a free mammogram offered through the Daylight Project. The program also paid for her treatment. She''s grateful the cancer was found early.

"My advice is to come and take care and check up. Because for their health, they should appreciate that, not ignore this thing," said Al-Attar.

To qualify for a free mammogram, women must be of refugee or immigrant status, over 40 and uninsured. Call 314-747-5688 for more information.