In my oppinionopinion, it doesn't make any sense to use C and want to avoid pointers. If you do so, then you'd better use another language.
Pointers are unavoidable in C. This is what make C so powerfull and also what make C a pain in the ass sometime. C is meant to be used with pointers.
Arrays are pointers, functions are pointers, memory allocation work through pointers, and so on. Take advantage of that or change language.