BEN AFFLECK'S PERSONAL ESSAY ON HIS TRAVELS THROUGH THE CONGO AND SEARCH FOR UNDERSTANDING OF THE HUMANITARIAN CRISIS THERE ON ABC NEWS "NIGHTLINE"

SPECIAL EDITION OF "NIGHTLINE" AIRS THURSDAY, JUNE 26, 2008

Actor, writer, producer, director Ben Affleck traveled to Africa's Congo region three times over the last eight months to understand first-hand one of the world's worst humanitarian crises of this century. "Nightline" producer Max Culhane and photographer Doug Vogt joined Affleck on his most recent trip to document his journey as he made his way through refugee camps, hospitals, clinics, meetings with warlords, relief workers, child soldiers and members of parliament in an effort to better understand the place where more than 4 million people have died in the deadliest conflict since World War II.

Since 1998, a decade of fighting combined with disease and starvation continues to take about 45,000 lives each month in Congo. As Affleck found in his travels, one in five children die before reaching the age of five, and those who survive are often forced into serving as child soldiers for militia groups, who continue to terrorize the population.

In explaining his journey’s mission of his travels and subsequent video essay for "Nightline", Affleck says: "Congo is in terrible shape. What's going on here in this country is humanitarian disaster. I think just helping people understand that could have a real ripple effect down the road and this piece will be one small incremental step in that. … People should see actors on television doing charitable work and be suspicious of that and at the end of watching this I hope they find themselves less suspicious of that and more interested in this and perhaps involved in it."

Ben Affleck's essay from the Congo airs on ABC News "Nightline" Thursday, June 26, 2008 at 11:35pm (ET/PT).