Maria was born in Angola in 1966. She is single and has no children. Before becoming a professional weaver she was a farmer, mainly growing millet and sorghum.

Her parents arrived as refugees in the late 1960's, during the unrest in Angola. The government of Botswana settled the Angolan refugees in camps, which are a row of villages called Etsha 1 to Etsha 13. They were provided with donkeys, seed and food, but the area is a harsh one. The heat, endless sand and wild animals made subsistence farming a difficult task. Maria says "to be a refugee is not good because you experience many problems such as not knowing the local language in the new area, and apprehension of the local people".

She prefers weaving with light colours, and would rather weave open baskets as they are much faster to complete.