The clay balls she is talking about have been baked, so they are no longer soft clay. They are like clay pots, very hard. If you don't have access to that, it's fine.
What you can do is plant it in a well draining medium as suggested before. That way when it rains a lot, there's no danger of it rotting. When it's the dry season, you have to water it yourself, but because of the airy mix, you will need to water it often.
If you are keeping the plants indoors, your plants are likely rotting because of lack of air movement, and possibly getting the leaves wet. If the roots are rotting even when you water very little, it's a hint that your potting medium is holding way too much water, and you need to repot them into a mix which drains better.
Don't stress so much about your orchids, they're supposed to be fun!
I know some are expensive, but the best you can do is use an appropriate medium and listen to the plants-- water when they need it (the skewer idea given before is good).