Enzo Ikah, who escaped while being taken to prison for a song that he composed in his country, has been living in Istanbul for eight years because he did not hold a transit visa. His biggest dream is to extend a hand to children who face starvation and illiteracy in his country.

He was four months old when he lost his pilot father and air hostess mother when their plane was sabotaged and dropped in the Congo.

An Italian, Lorenzo, who his father loved so much that he gave his name to his child, adopted baby Enzo. As a result of his grandmother's legal struggle, Enzo could only live with Lorenzo for five years.

Spending his childhood in the Congo with his grandmother, Ikah first encountered music at 11-years-old when he tried to play the accordion at a church he was cleaning as a punishment for misbehaving. He started to play accordion first and then guitar.

Ikah went to France for his higher education and studied psychology at Sorbonne University where he did his master's degree. Maintaining his interest in music at the same time, Ikah's life changed after a song that he composed when he went back to Congo.

He reacted to the fact that children were employed and lost their lives in coltan mines, 80 percent of the material in the world was extracted in the Congo in those years. He criticized the government for its activities and got strong reactions to the songs that he composed.

Ikah was detained in 2009 and his teeth were pulled out. He bribed soldiers and escaped as he was being taken to the prison where he was going to serve his time. When he could not find a direct flight to France that day, he decided to transfer in Istanbul, but a transit visa issue ruined his plans.

He was not allowed to go to France after his plane landed in Istanbul because he did not have a visa. He decided to go back to the Congo at first. However, knowing that if he went back to his country, he would be arrested and spend the rest of his life in prison, Ikah decided to stay in Turkey as a refugee.

Spending 78 days at the Foreigners' Department and later being sent to Karaman, Enzo found a way to come back to Istanbul. Ikah, who had no money and could not speak Turkish, spent those days sleeping in parks and at train stations.

On one of those days, the owner of a workshop selling musical instruments, who Enzo helped carry goods, gave Ikah a guitar as a present. That guitar became another turning point in Ikah's life. Sharing his story with an Anadolu Agency (AA) reporter, Enzo compared himself with a seed.

"A seed staying over the table cannot grow; it needs soil. Namely, it needs to be at the deepest point in soil," said Ikah, who added he started to grow slowly from the lowest point like a seed.

He said that he started to make music on the streets with his guitar.

"That guitar is unforgettable. Until that day, I was a cowboy without a gun. I became a complete cowboy with that guitar. But I am against guns so let me say a cowboy without a horse instead of a gun," he said.

Mentioning that he made friends with many people in Turkey and started to see the Şeker and Önder families as his own family, Ikah said that he also sees most of his friends as his brothers and sisters.

He added that's why he feels very powerful in Istanbul and he sees every mother in the world as his own mother, something he learned this from his grandmother.

He made seven albums after coming to Turkey and is getting ready to release another album named "Evsiz Çocuk" ("Homeless Kid") which is completely in Turkish, and also made reggae versions of famous Turkish songs such as "Uzun İnce Bir Yoldayım" and "Hey Onbeşli."

Stating that the story of the song "Hey Onbeşli" is very similar to the song "Waka Waka" in Africa, Ikah pointed out that, "Just like 'Hey Onbeşli,' 'Waka Waka' is about children joining the army. That is why, I chose this song. Waka Waka means 'Döneceğim' (I will turn back) in Turkish. They go to a war and they have hopes that they will come back."

Giving a place to an Aşık Veysel song in his album, Ikah said that he learned that Veysel was blind much later.

"I saw Aşık Veysel on YouTube for the first time. When I listened to his song, I could not speak any Turkish but it made me feel like it was telling so much. Then, a friend of mine taught this song. Later on, I learned that Aşık Veysel could not see. I think we are blinder than Aşık Veysel even though we have two eyes. He was able to see through his heart. That is why, I chose his song. 'Uzun ince bir yoldayım' (I am on a long, narrow path). We all are on the same path. As a human, this is the lesson that I received from that song. If we all thought for a second and saw that ourselves as one grain of sand, then life would be more beautiful for all of us. As people, we forget about this. No matter who you are, our graves are in the same distance," he said.

Mentioning that he wrote two books, Ikah stated that he is looking for a publishing house for his second book in which he tells the story of his grandmother. Saying that he loves children so much and wants to live like them, Ikah has come together with Syrian children living in Turkey and worked for their rehabilitation recently, teaching them how to play guitar.

"People only want to receive. But I do not enjoy receiving since giving is more enjoyable. That's why, I always work with refugees. Because I did not have food either and I know what they need. I go visit them in Tarlabaşı. They know me and call me when something happens. It is not about money only. Not necessarily does support mean money. When their lives become beautiful, my life becomes beautiful, too," he said.

Emphasizing that he was not a poor person in Congo and did not leave his country for a beautiful life, he pointed out that, "I left everything behind. I have learned a lot in Turkey and grown mature. When I became a refugee, I grew more mature. When I first came here, I was very young and aggressive. But I think like a grown man right now. I am learning every day and this is very significant. No diploma is required for that. My first teacher was my grandmother. She could not read but taught me about life. She was very happy. Universities only teach how to make money. But my mother and grandmother taught me about life, like how you can love people and how you can live in peace. That education was my biggest prize in the world. There is no formula for life. We do not sign anything when we are born. We cannot get to say 'I can live like this until that day.' It is not known when you will die. We just exist and we die. My tomorrow is not known. We only have hopes for tomorrows so that we can do more beautiful things."

Ikah underlined that even though Congo has rich mining resources, the largest lake and the second largest forest in Africa, people in the country are starving. He stated that he wants this to stop, and if nobody stops it, people will continue to kill each other in wars. He added that he wants to go back to Congo to build schools and give free education.

Ikah said that he provides support for refugees living in Turkey with the foundation which he founded and understands the psychology of children and young people very well.

Underlining that young refugees are afraid of the future most, he stated, "If they learn some things, they will start to gain self-confidence. One says 'If I become a cameraman or musician, I can make money.' And we look for and find the right person asking the question who can help them?"

Pointing out that he did not become a Turkish citizen during his stay in Turkey and preferred to remain as "stateless," Ikah emphasized, "I am a world citizen."