Skills Workshops: Survival with Anya Pavelle's Leilani Lo

Last year, I invited a number of authors to send suitable characters from their books to interview for an imaginary job in my imaginary company.

Now a New Year is upon us, and as CEO of this company I've decided that my workforce needs to learn new skills for 2022. I've invited some more characters along to the blog, this time to deliver some workshops, and my employees have gathered in the car park to hear what Leilani Lo (courtesy of author Anya Pavelle) has to tell them.

Leilani Lo asked for the following to be made available for her demonstration: pieces of bamboo, a knife for cutting and carving, a jug of sand, pieces of hardwood, loose gravel, kindling for building fires, ten small rocks, two vessels to hold water, dried coconut shells, palm fronds, rocks for grinding charcoal, and a pair of tongs. I got some strange looks at the checkout of the local hardware store, but anyway...

AW: Settle down everyone, phones off, don't worry about the fact that I'm standing by with a fire extinguisher, and please give a big welcome to Leilani Lo!

LL: Hello, Course Attendees,

My name is Leilani Lo, or Leilani Ani, the name I was born with. I am from Anya Pavelle’s book, The Moon Hunters. I refer to my birth name as my “cult name” because I grew up in a restrictive religious environment that people have told me is a cult. However, I do not wish to focus on that sordid part of my life. My main purpose here is to teach about survival. You see, I was born on a remote island, one without electricity or phones of any type. I imagine you’re cringing at the thought of living without these conveniences. Although people in your world call my home island “primitive,” those conditions were normal to me. I knew of nothing else. It was only when I escaped my home island that I learned just how important technology can be. 

That said, I firmly believe people should be able to survive without modern devices. Natural disasters happen, after all, both on my home island and in your world. I hope this class will help prepare for such an eventuality. 

Today, I will be teaching you about water purification. Without water, people die within days. You can immediately drink rain that falls from the sky, but you should purify water before drinking if it has been stored in cisterns. Microorganisms can grow in water storage systems, and drinking this water may make you ill. 

Boiling Method: Most people know how to boil water, so if you have a metal pot but no stove, all you must do is build a fire and set the pot and water over the flame. What if you don’t have a metal pot, though? What if you only have a wooden bowl or vessel that can’t be placed over a fire? Well, fear not. You simply need to build a fire and place your rocks in the flame. I recommend many small rocks for this method of water purification, as they are easier to pick up and set into your water when heated. On my home island, we used solar stones and friction methods to start fires. If you do not have matches or lighters, you may attend my fire-starting seminar to learn this survival technique. [AW: If anyone is interested in this seminar, see me afterwards. Not you, Simons. We all know very well that you know how to start a fire...]

LL: In any case, let’s return to water purification. Let the rocks heat in the fire for at least half an hour. After this time has passed, get your pair of tongs. You do not need to use fancy kitchen tongs. Two hearty sticks that have been joined by vine or string will suffice. The important thing is to use a tool that will allow you to safely pick up the hot rocks. Remove these rocks from the fire one by one, placing them into your vessel of water carefully. The water inside should boil, thereby killing potentially dangerous microorganisms. 

Please remember to let the water cool before you drink it. For good measure, you may repeat this process a few times if you worry the water hasn’t boiled enough. This method of purifying water works well for rainwater that is stored in cisterns. You could also purify water from a fast-moving river or stream using hot rocks. 

Charcoal Filtration Method: If the water you want to drink has visible impurities, I recommend filtering it before drinking or even before using the boiling method. I know many of you have water filters installed in the plumbing of your homes, so think of my demonstration as a more antiquated version of those filters. I am first going to teach you how to make the charcoal needed for the filter. If you already have charcoal on hand, you may skip the following steps. 

First, dig a pit in the ground. I recommend you make this pit in sturdy soil instead of sand, but sand will work if you have no other choice. The pit should not collapse in on itself. You will also be covering this pit after the fire has started, hence the need for palm fronds or other leaves. You want this fire to be in a low oxygen environment to help the wood and coconut shells carbonize. 

Next, place your dry, mature coconut shells in the bottom of the pit, along with pieces of hardwood that are no more than four inches long. You will be using the charred hardwood and charred coconut shells as charcoal for your water filtration device. After you cover the bottom of your pit with shells and wood, light your kindling and edge the burning pieces under your layer of coconut shells. Make sure the kindling does not go out as you place it under the shells. Continue building the fire by adding kindling as needed. The hardwood should also be burning. 

Keep adding kindling and more hardwood until you see the coconut shells begin to glow. Next, cover the burning shells and wood with a layer of palm fronds. Then, cover the fronds with layers of sand or earth. Let the fire burn for at least twelve hours. It will sometimes take twenty-four hours to create usable charcoal. Cooking time for the charcoal is a process of trial and error. 

When the appropriate amount of time has passed, uncover the fire. The coconut shells and hardwood should look like charcoal briquettes. Remove these pieces of charcoal and put out any remnants of the fire. Let the charred wood and coconut shells cool. When the charcoal is no longer hot, grind it using rocks as a mortar and pestle. You now have charcoal for a water filter. Because charcoal takes hours, or days, to prepare, I recommend having some on hand. You do not want to die of dehydration while you wait for coconut shells to carbonize. 

To make the filter itself, grab a piece of bamboo. Bamboo is hollow, so works as an ideal container for a water filter. You should use a piece of bamboo that is around two feet long. You will also need a plug for the bottom of the filtration device. Carve a piece of wood (bamboo is fine) that can plug the bottom of your piece of bamboo. Then, drill a small hole in this plug. Your filtered water will drip from this hole and into your collection vessel. 

Secure the plug to the bottom of the bamboo tube. Then, put two inches of loose gravel into the bamboo tube, followed by an inch of sand. Next, add two inches of ground charcoal. After the charcoal, add another layer of gravel. You should then add at least one more layer each of sand and charcoal. Make sure six inches of space (or more) remains at the top of the bamboo tube. 

You are now ready to purify water in the bamboo tube. Place a vessel for collecting water under the bottom of the tube. I suggest suspending the filtration device a few inches above this vessel so that you can monitor the flow of water and its purity. Finally, slowly pour unpurified water into the top of the bamboo tube. Do not let the water overflow. Filtration with this method will take time, but the water that emerges at the bottom of the tube should be relatively clear of sediment. The charcoal and sand will trap impurities. 

Drinking clean water is important, so you may use the rock boiling method as described above to further purify the water that drips out of the bamboo tube. The charcoal filtration method removes impurities from the water, but these two methods work best when used in tandem. You may also boil the water first and then send it through the bamboo filtration device. If you choose this order, then wait until the water cools before you pour it into the bamboo tube. I suggest replacing the charcoal, sand, and gravel in your bamboo tube after several uses. You may use new bamboo, as well. 

I hope this class has been informative and that you never have to purify water using the rudimentary methods described above. Knowledge is power, though. If you want to learn more about my life on my home island, you may follow Anya Pavelle on social media or visit her website. 

AW: Thanks so much to Leilani Lo for that informative talk and demonstration, and I'm pleased to see so many of you were taking notes. You just never know what this kind of information will come in handy. Let's give another huge round of applause and on your way back inside, please take one of the flyers which shows Anya's book and details of where to find her:

http://www.anyapavelle.com 

Twitter: @anyapavelle

Instagram: @anyapavelle

The next workshop will be delivered by Lucy Apsley, a real-life 17th-century character, sent by author Elizabeth St John, and it's called Lucy Apsley's Tower Bake-Off, so please come dressed appropriately. It could get messy...