Colombia is one of the great surprises of South America — a country that has spent the last two decades transforming itself, and doing so with remarkable energy, pride, and warmth. IPSL's Colombia program puts you in the middle of that story, in one of two very different settings, both of them extraordinary.

Chinchiná sits in the heart of the coffee-growing Eje Cafetero region — lush, green, and genuinely unlike anywhere else in Latin America. This is small-city Colombia: slower, more intimate, and deeply connected to the land and the communities that work it.

Medellín was once a byword for conflict. Today it's celebrated internationally as a model of urban reinvention — a city of bold architecture, world-class universities, and a population that turned one of the most painful chapters in modern Latin American history into something worth visiting, studying, and understanding. Locals call it the City of Eternal Spring, and the climate earns it.

Both cities offer Spanish language classes and volunteer placements. Both will teach you things no classroom can.

Learn Spanish the way it was meant to be learned. IPSL builds your language program around your level, your schedule, and your goals — beginner or advanced, intensive or balanced alongside volunteering. You can add accredited academic coursework as well. And depending on your program, IPSL can arrange a visit to Cartagena — a colonial port city on the edge of the turquoise Caribbean that has to be seen to be believed.

Do work that matters. Colombia's volunteer opportunities aren't generic. They reflect a country grappling seriously with its history and building its future — and they'll ask something real of you:

Supporting a local foundation working with Afro-Colombian communities. Providing social services to people still affected by decades of narco conflict. Contributing to peace and reconciliation policy work. Helping build homes in low-income neighborhoods. Teaching in primary and secondary schools. Working in a Tier II hospital alongside medical staff.

These aren't resume lines. They're experiences that will change how you understand Latin America — and probably how you understand yourself.

The program is fully customizable. With IPSL's guidance, you design the experience that fits your interests, your academic goals, and your budget. Financial aid is available for eligible students, and IPSL accepts the AmeriCorps Segal Education Award.