He may not be the first man to walk on the moon but he is just as proud to be the first man to wear a sanitary napkin. Arunachalam Muruganantham of India was on a mission when he learned that women in under-developed countries around the world were still wearing rags rather than sanitary pads.

He recently told his story at a Ted conference where both men and women applauded him because he not only invented a very inexpensive sanitary napkin but is putting thousands of people to work in poor countries. They are needed to operate the mini sanitary napkin-making machine that he made as well.

Muruganantham of Jayaashree also developed a business model that allows women’s groups to invest in their own sanitary napkin-making unit that is designed to employ up to ten women. The new invention is capable of making 120 napkins per hour.

“‘My vision is to make India a 100% napkin-using country,’ said Muruganantham at a conference in Jaipur. ‘We can create 1 million employment opportunities for rural women and expand the model to other developing nations.'”

Watch the video to hear his story.