(This story supplements "FEATURE-Microcredit spreading to Africa from Asia" [ID:nL26303322])

By Zoe Eisenstein

ESPARGOS, Cape Verde, May 2 (Reuters) - Until a few years ago, 34-year-old Maria de Luz and three of her five children lived together in one cramped room in Espargos, Cape Verde.

She earned 5,000 escudos ($60) a month as a domestic worker and washed clothes at the weekend for cash, but still struggled to pay her monthly rent of 3,000 escudos and feed her children.

Her dream was to have a pastry shop but she could not even afford a stove until, in 2003, she obtained a microloan.

Life has changed dramatically for Maria "Bolacha", as she is now known, Portuguese for Maria "Biscuit". She lives with her children in a spacious two-bedroom house from which she also runs her successful baking business.

How was your life before you obtained the microloan?

"The hardest thing was to earn enough money to pay the rent. I just used to work, I didn't have a single minute to think about anything else and I couldn't see the light at the end of the tunnel. I used to try and do my best to feed my kids and I think I managed to give them the basics. But I was really sad as I couldn't afford to have all of them living with me. All I dreamed of was to have my own cake shop and for all of my children to be living together with me under one roof. It was impossible at that stage but I had faith that one day I would manage it, that I would succeed in providing my family a decent life."

What happened when you got onto the microcredit programme?

"I managed to get 100,000 Cape Verde escudos ($1,218) from the association and with that money, I bought a domestic stove and some basic materials to start working with. I started making biscuits, bread and cakes which I used to sell from my home to friends and neighbours. They always liked what I made and so kept on coming back to buy more. I also received training through the programme -- first in management and accounting and then in pastry making. I had 18 months to pay off the loan and I paid it off bit by bit and even managed to pay it off four months early."

How has your life changed since then?

"Today I have a lot of things. I moved house a year and a half ago and I now have an industrial stove, a cake-making machine, a fridge and a TV. And most importantly, all of my children now live with me. My 17-year-old daughter helps me with the business but I have also taken on one employee who helps me with the bread making. My business makes between 100,000 to 200,000 escudos per month and from that, up to 65,000 is profit. Since I got the microcredit facility, I have managed to obtain three bank loans worth around 2 million escudos in total. I have five outlets -- shops and markets -- who are my regular clients, and of course I still sell my produce from my home and my children also sell it door-to-door around the neighbourhood."

What are your hopes for the future?

"I really want to travel, to take some holidays. My first stop will be Brazil because I know that I can get better and cheaper materials there for my business. But my ultimate dream is still to have a proper pastry shop of my own and of course I would like to be able to give my children better lives, a better future."

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