It’s not every day that you can help change the world with your hair care products, but you’re in luck! You can look forward to a whole month of those days this June, as Hair La Vie partners with Kiva, an international nonprofit that is empowering millions around the world.

Kiva provides loans to people who may not have access to funding otherwise with the goal of empowering them to create opportunities and grow into a brighter future.

An impressive 81% of those loans go to women, many of them working toward a better education, growing their businesses, and making their own positive impact on the world.

Hair La Vie is about more than strong, healthy hair. We’re dedicated to supporting strong women across the globe as they strive for a better life for themselves and their families.

Here are just a couple examples of the amazing impact that Kiva loans can have on people’s lives.

Lourdes: Courage and Strength in the Face of Hardship

When Lourdes became pregnant at 18, she was abandoned by both her family and the unborn baby’s father. She did what she could to support her son, Victor, but lived in extreme poverty and couldn’t even afford diapers for her baby.

Then Lourdes took the courageous leap into starting her own business selling empanadas and other snacks. A loan of $60 got her business up and running. Unfortunately, her first shop got robbed four times in just two months because it wasn’t secure.

The business took up all of Lourdes’s free time and demanded an extreme amount of hard work and dedication. Through it all, she was driven by the desire to provide a better life for her son and to show her child’s father, her family, and the world that “[she’s] worth more as a woman, that [she] doesn’t need a man at [her] side.”

Lourdes’s dedication paid off. Her business grew and she eventually received a $975 loan from Kiva, which was funded by 33 lenders from all over the world.

Thanks in part to Kiva, she’s been able to grow her business so that her new shop has a secure gate and an attached home for her family.

Lourdes says, “To be a single mother gives you more strength, you want to fight even harder.” And she has proven that to be true.

Meerim: Future Politician, Current Role Model

Meerim is a young woman from Kyrgyzstan, where getting an education can seem almost impossible, especially for those from the small, remote communities.

She had dreams of becoming a politician, but a higher education is expensive, and her family couldn’t afford to send her to college.

But in 2013, Kiva partnered with the American University of Central Asia in order to pilot a 0% interest loan program for incoming freshmen.

Now, Meerim is getting that higher education that she always dreamed of and studying international politics thanks to a $1,100 loan that was funded by 41 lenders around the world in just 36 hours.

She has two younger sisters, and she is studying hard in order to provide a good example for them and show them that “if you study, you will create your future.”

The whole world is now open to Meerim thanks to her hard work, desire for a better education, and the support of Kiva lenders.

How Does Kiva Work?

When a borrower’s application is approved, it’s posted to Kiva so that lenders can view it and potentially contribute to it. The loan is crowdfunded, and when it is paid back, lenders can choose to fund new loans, creating a unique, renewable financial source to make dreams happen all over the world.

Sounds Great! How Can I Help?

You can go to www.kiva.org for more information and to become a lender, but the easiest way to support Kiva this month is to continue what you’re already doing: lead your natural, healthy hair lifestyle with Hair La Vie.

Your purchase of any product during the month of June will contribute to a donation to Kiva from Hair La Vie.

New to Hair La Vie? There’s no better time to ditch dangerous chemicals and see what a natural, healthy product can do for your hair. Not only will you enjoy the benefits of our high-quality hair care, but you’ll be supporting millions of Kiva borrowers in 86 countries, including over 28,000 education loans like the one that Meerim received.

Hair La Vie is proud to support a foundation that is helping to uplift women on a global scale. The really exciting part is that you never know how far your contribution will go. When one person is uplifted, they have the opportunity to make a difference in all of the lives around them.

Team La Vie invites you to help us maximize our donation to Kiva this month and create real change in the world.