dlish,
Kudos to you my friend! First of all, support of any charitable event is an amazing thing. Thank you! Secondly, that looks/sounds like an amazing experience. I must admit that I am a bit jealous.
One of the greatest bits of knowledge one can gain other than self-knowledge is world-knowledge. Seeing new places, meeting new people... it's all very enlightening.
I've always felt that way to some degree, but after my time in Afghanistan, I'm sure of it. I came away with very mixed feelings about the people, but I feel very lucky that I had the experience.
At any rate, awesome! Glad you are back, safe and sound. I can't wait to see and read more about this.