The Life of John Bradburne  is a 30- minute documentary produced and directed by Collen Magobeya.

Ambuya Colletta Mafuta, a leprosy patient narrates the story of John Randall Bradburne, a lay member of the Order of St Francis, a poet, warden of the Mutemwa leper colony at Mutoko (1969 – 1979). He was killed by guerrillas and is a candidate for canonization. Ambuya Colletta Mafuta got to know him since the day this missionary arrived in Mutemwa in 1969 and she was one of the last people to see  him before he was kidnapped.

Ambuya Colleta tells the story of the single-minded loving care John Bradburne gave to the residents, which eventually brought him into conflict with the management committee, as he was the warden. He refused to put number tags around the patients necks and reduce their already small diet. He was sacked. He then lived in a prefab tin hut, lacking water and sanitation, just outside the leprosy compound. From there, he continued to help the lepers as much as he could.

As a lay member of the Third Order of St Francis, he obeyed its rule, singing the daily office of Our Lady. He lived its hours, rising at dawn for Matins and ending the day with Vespers and Compline. This discipline provides the context for many poems written by him at the turning-points of the day.

During the Zimbabwea civil war, John Bradburne’s efforts to prevent exploitation of the leprosy patients brought local hostility and suspicion. He refused to leave the place for safety and was abducted by guerrillas. As a result, he was shot to death on Wednesday September 5, 1979.

 Since his death, many unusual events have been reported in relation to his name. His monument at Mutemwa is now a place of pilgrimage, and there is a growing movement in support of his cause for sainthood. Hundreds of people gather every year on the  September, 4 for his annivesary.

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