When a graduate student from Africa left his country earlier this year to attend school at SIUC, his wife was expecting a child. But now, Joe Chimwenje, a graduate student in theater from Malawi, will never know what it feels like to cradle the child in his arms.

Chimwenje is trying to return to Malawi, where his daughter of 10 months died only a few days ago, but is having trouble because of the cost of airfare, theater professor Alex Chrestopoulos said.

Chrestopoulos said the graduate student’s daughter reportedly died after an allergic reaction the child had to fever shot.

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She was born while he was here in the United States, Chrestopoulos said. He has never even seen her, and now she has died.

The problem is getting him home, Chrestopoulos said. A flight can run about $3,200 back to his country if you don’t have a pre-booked flight.

Chrestopoulos said Dean John Jackson, of the College of Liberal Arts, has given Chimwenje some monetary aid for a plane ticket. He also said the SIUC Office of Financial Aid is providing Chimwenje with a short-term loan to help the man afford the trip.

Hopefully we can send him back (today), but it doesn’t stop there, Chrestopoulos said. The student loan is going to have to be paid off, and that will take money.

As of Tuesday afternoon, Chrestopoulos said he and other University officials were still searching for additional funding to send Chimwenje home.