Paxtyn Merten

Paxtyn is an undergraduate student at Northeastern University pursuing a degree in journalism and data science. She hopes to make a career as a data reporter and has worked for Northeastern's Storybench and the Puget Sound Business Journal. She is the multimedia manager of the Huntington News, the independent student newspaper of the Northeastern community, and previously served as its editor-in-chief. In Greece, Spain and Cuba, she reported on topics ranging from religion to refugee housing.

The image of Saint Mercedes, mounted a flight of stairs above the altar at Our Lady of Mercy church, is the reason many Santería practitioners visit. When they look at the image, they see Obatalá, the parent of all orishas. Yojander Pérez López, a volunteer at the church, said it can be frustrating when people enter and call the statue by the orisha’s name. “She is not Obatalá, she is the mother of Christ,” he said. (Photo by Paxtyn Merten/The GroundTruth Project)

Faith

In Cuba, Santería flourishes two decades after ban was lifted

HAVANA — A young woman in a blue shirt is thigh-deep in the Straits of Florida, carrying a...

Jul 31, 2018