Safety in Columbia

[mondaytosunday]

Not a holiday but couldn’t think of an appropriate subject area.
My DD (20) has been offered an internship in Medellin Columbia for summer 2026. This is an alternative to her application to work in Mexico, so she has not been able to do much research or reach out to any previous interns, and has been given less than 24 hours to accept. My main concern is safety. This is an established charity and they take on a few interns annually, and part of her work will be in outreach settings. I know Medellin has improved greatly from its more violent past, but has anyone got any experience? She is very fair with reddish hair so will stand out (meaning she will obviously not be a local). She does not drink and is sensible and did a month long internship in Lisbon at age 18, so has been abroad before. Her Spanish is beginner level but she is concentrating on improving her skills between now and then. Any tips (and reassurance for me) would be appreciated! This is very exciting opportunity and I am thrilled she is going but anxious too!

I have Spanish lessons from a teacher in Colombia near Medellin (online) so I asked him about this today in my lesson as I read your post earlier today. He told me:

Medellin is much better now, and it doesn't deserve it's reputation. He says it's really improved in the past 18 months.
Crime in Colombia is still high, but really it's not the sort of thing that tourists get involved in (like big, organised crime exists of course - but unless you go looking for it you're not affected).
If you stay in tourist areas it should be fine. But always be aware of pick pockets and don't display jewellery etc. Don't go to the slum area. El Poblado, Laureles, and Envigado are good.
Fly in during the day (so you don't have to find your hotel at night).
Don't walk around on your own after dark unless you know where you are going and are in a good area.

I asked him "Would you let your 20 year old sister live and work there by herself?" and he said "Yes, but she must be sensible and she should find a group of friends to go out with, not on her own". He also said in his view sex-related crimes are not likely, more about getting pickpocketed or bag snatched.

Thank you! She will, I believe, be living with four or so other students doing similar. They will be doing outreach projects - what that entails I don’t know but assume they will be going beyond the tourist areas, working with local organisations. The idea is not to be a tourist but try and affect some change! They are research and leadership scholars and they are being paid (though I believe using the money to travel and live there).
We live in London so she is not ignorant of personal safety and pickpockets. But it is reassuring to hear from someone there and thank you for being so specific as to ask if he’d be happy with his sister there!

Medallin is generally safer than it has been but she needs to use common sense re her possessions and always be aware of her surroundings. She should not go out in her own at night.

Is this some sort of voluntarism type charity based project?. I would be doing a lot more research about this before she at all accepts. Poorly run programmes tcan actually do more harm than good.