To every girl who excels in carpet-weaving the Queen presents a loom and raw materials, so that she may begin her independent working life.

She inspects the handwork at one of her own exhibitions.

At this stage Her Majesty's efforts turned to the building of permanent centers for rural youth; the project came under the patronage of Their Majesties together, financed from their private treasury.

Under the broad program drawn up for this purpose, 196 rural youth centers out of 240 were founded during the following ten years.

Most of these centers stand in remote villages on the frontiers; their aim is to raise the standard of living, not only among the young, but among the farmers and the inhabitants generally.

In these centers the young find instruction, handicrafts, and trades, besides means of recreation and amusement. 394 villages, of those that suffered material and moral damage during the civil wars, have benefited from these services.

The rural centers for girls take special care to foster the traditional handicrafts, such as carpet-weaving and the arts of embroidery and needlework — their aim being to endow the girls with an honorable trade that shields them from want and grants them material independence, so that they are