"Each day I cry for the state of the world and then I laugh.”

As Global Sisters Report celebrates our one-year anniversary, we are also celebrating the connections we have made with sisters in Africa, where women have even less of a voice in the global conversation. In Kenya, due to more widespread Internet usage, sisters are becoming more and more familiar with Global Sisters Report. While in Kenya in January, I ran two writing workshops for more than 100 sisters.

From A Nun's Life podcasts - In this Random Nun Clip, we offer advice on how to act like a nun to a college student who is preparing for a role in the play Sister Act; looking into what sisters do – social justice work, life based in Scripture, living in a community – can apply to anyone wanting to understand religious life more.

Three Stats and a Map - Earlier this month, the Yale Project on Climate Change Communication took data it had gathered between 2008 and 2014 and released an interactive map that allows you to see what people in the United States think about climate change. You can sort data by specific opinions (e.g., Will climate change harm me personally? Will global warming harm future generations?) And you can sort the data by U.S. states, congressional districts and counties.

I am a realist and yet a woman steeped in Franciscan tradition whose roots extend deeply into mystery, love, action and trust. Ultimately we do not know what might happen. We are called to make the path by walking. We are called to love and give ourselves to love, if we believe in the greatest commandment to love God, self and neighbor (meaning human and non-human).

Even though the government of India brought into effect the Street Vendors Act 2014, the police have still been violating this act and continue their old practices of harassing the vendors, who do not have education or connection to better jobs or the resources to open a shop. They live day to day, and Aashray Abhiyan, a small organization, campaigns continuously for their right to work unimpeded.

GSR Today - People are always surprised when I tell them how small the Global Sisters Report staff actually is. The fact of the matter is, while we have correspondents all over the world (that’s how we get all those global stories!) there are just four of us in the Kansas City office. Personally, I think we get a lot done for such a tiny group, but there are still times I wish we had more hands to do more things.

Benedictine Sr. Angela Hoffman thinks there’s a chance plants and fungi could provide a natural cure for cancer. She hasn’t found anything yet, but as a biochemist and professor at Portland University, she – along with her research students – continues to log hours in the lab looking. Earlier this month, the 2014 Oregon Academy of Science award winner for outstanding higher education in science and mathematics spoke to Global Sisters Report about her work.

Commentary - The virtual treaty that called an end to the Vatican's supervision of the LCWR has been generally hailed as a victory of the sisters' wisdom and perseverance over bad judgment and worse politics. I'd prefer to agree with that but don't. While it doesn't please me one bit to see this outcome as strengthening the status quo, I believe that's what it amounts to.

Leaders of the main representative group of U.S. Catholic sisters said their recent annual trip to Rome to visit Vatican offices was productive and resulted in "very rich" conversations about problems facing the church and society globally. Two of the elected representatives of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious spoke to NCR about the trip in an interview Sunday.