What El Salvador Taught A Human Rights Consultant with Marliee Marks (USA)

Send us Fan MailA 13-year-old holding her infant son in an institution is not a statistic. It is a life that forces you to rethink what “help” really means. We sit down with human rights and foreign policy consultant Marilee Marks to talk about her family’s years living and working in El Salvador during a brutal orphan crisis shaped by poverty, abandonment, addiction, and gender-based violence. The stories are tender, unsettling, and grounded in the daily reality of trying to keep children safe while systems fail around them. From there, we follow Marilee Mark’s shift from frontline humanitarian aid to “going upstream” and studying international relations, asking what changes when you stop only responding to harm and start challenging the policy decisions that fuel it. We dig into the long shadow of US foreign policy in Central America, the way trade pressure and external economic control can limit national choices, and why accountability still belongs to local actors even when institutions are weak. We also talk about education in El Salvador, from the practical barriers of uniforms and supplies to the terrifying impact of gang recruitment at schools. The conversation pushes back on easy narratives about gangs, immigrants, refugees, and asylum seekers, and lands on a simple discipline: stay curious, seek more context than a headline can offer, and treat people’s lives as fully human. If this moved you, subscribe, share the episode with someone who cares about human rights and foreign policy, and leave a review so more listeners can find the show. What part of Marilee Marks' story changed how you see Central America?Music, lyrics, guitar and singing by Dr Ariel Rosita KingTeach me to live one day at a timewith courage love and a sense of pride.Giving me the ability to love and accept myselfso I can go and give it to someone else.Teach me to live one day at a time.....Support the showThe Business of LifeDr Ariella (Ariel) Rosita KingOriginal Song, "Teach Me to Live one Day At A Time"written, guitar and vocals by Dr. Ariel Rosita KingDr King Solutions (USA Office)1629 K St, NW #300, Washington, DC 20006, USA, +[email protected]