Ben Affleck’s two children, Violet and Seraphina with wife Jennifer Garner have inspired him to become more proactive about the world around him.

He told People magazine that he founded the Eastern Congo Initiative in 2010 and just got back from his eighth trip to the war-ravaged region because of his kids since “I got to a point in my life where I felt like I had been very fortunate. And I wanted to do something more with my life than just make movies and try to make money. I wanted to do something that was important to me in other ways and would serve as an example to my kids.”

Affleck’s non-profit organization helps support Congolese-led organizations dedicated to rebuilding the region, with the organizations ranging from aiding former child soldiers to trying to make health care more widely available, especially to the region’s most vulnerable.

The 39-year-old actor said, “The people there are working as hard as they can to make their lives better. And that’s inspiring.”

Talking about his own kids, he added that he always shows his children where he’s going on a map and “I tell them it’s important to be involved in the world in ways that help others and not just yourself.”