Open Your Home, Open Your World: Casey & Olive’s Story

Global Ties Iowa works to facilitate international exchanges beyond the International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP). Since spring 2024, we have welcomed participants from the Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative Professional Fellows Program (YSEALI PFP), a U.S. Department of State program designed to promote mutual understanding, strengthen leadership skills, and build lasting partnerships between emerging leaders in Southeast Asia and the United States.

As part of the Spring 2026 cohort (March 16–April 10), four Fellows were professionally placed with organizations across eastern Iowa, each host site aligning with their professional goals, while being housed by eastern Iowa community members. One of the Fellows, Wachirasorn “Olive” Kitudom from Thailand, was welcomed into the home of Casey Baustian, a Program Officer at the Greater Cedar Rapids Community Foundation.

For Casey, hosting had long been a dream rooted in her own international experiences. Having stayed with local families during her travels abroad, she knew how meaningful those connections could be. Still, she wondered whether her everyday routine would be “interesting enough” or whether she could dedicate the time and energy to being a good host. Those concerns quickly faded once Olive arrived.

Casey described Olive as smart, respectful, independent, and eager to experience as much as possible during her time in Iowa. What surprised Casey most was how naturally hosting fit into her life. It didn’t require a perfect schedule, just openness, and a willingness to share space.

Some of Casey’s favorite memories were the quietest ones: sitting together in the evenings after busy days, talking about their goals, families, favorite things, and the cultural differences that shape how we move through the world. Those conversations were just as meaningful as introducing Olive to new foods, places, and even weather, including Iowa snow and tornado season.

Reflecting on the experience, Casey shared: “Hosting reaffirmed to me that sharing time and space with others is always possible and somehow works out — you don’t have to wait because there’s never a ‘perfect’ time.”

She encourages others in the eastern Iowa community to consider hosting. “Hosting is a way to learn from and experience another culture without ever leaving home. It makes you reflect on yourself and your community in ways that are only possible when you share new experiences with others.”

At Global Ties Iowa, we are fortunate to partner with outstanding professional hosts across the region, and equally fortunate to have home hosts like Casey, who open their doors and create the kind of personal, meaningful connections that make international exchange truly transformative.