Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-ACC-2019-099
Benny Cespedes served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Pakistan from 1961 to 1963 as an engineering instructor. He was part of Pakistan I, which was only the ninth group to be trained and the seventh group to go abroad in Peace Corps history. His main assignment was to teach engineering in the Lahore Polytechnic Institute. He also worked on building two schools for girls and setting up the Dewey decimal system in the library. Cespedes believed that he did not make any tangible changes, but rather his impact came from interactions with the locals, answering their questions, teaching Pakistanis about the morality of American women, and openly answering questions on how blacks were treated in the United States. He continued his service after Pakistan with Habitat Global Village and Friends of Pakistan USA. Note: Benny's wife, Carol Cespedes, was also present for the interview to assist him. Interviewed and recorded by Jeff Liu, June 22, 2019. 2 digital audio files (web streaming files combined into 1 file).