Shang’ombo District is located approx. 385 km southwest of Mongu, the provincial capital of the Western Province. Sparsely populated and limited in its road networks, Shang’ombo has a population of 73,822 which is spread across rural, agrarian communities centered around the Zambezi River and its floodplains. The district also sits along routes that have, in the past, connected cross-border movements in the region. While it is not a major refugee reception hub, the Western Province’s border districts play a significant role in transit or temporary protection for refugees displaced by regional conflicts, climate-related displacement, or cross-border immigration. Shang’ombo, in particular, has seen an influx of refugees fleeing the civil conflicts in Angola.
Shang’ombo District was initially listed under the Mongu training initiative but due to its extreme remoteness and poor road networks, only one teacher was able to make it to Mongu for the program. The district is generally viewed as the remotest part of the Western Province and it lacks basic facilities even so far as a meeting hall. It was for these reasons that OurPitch selected Shang’ombo as a priority as part of its objective of breaking barriers and developing grassroots economic capacity through football in the most underprivileged and rural parts of Zambia. Despite the challenges that we had to overcome - namely a lack of boarding facilities and the necessity of using 4x4 high ride motor vehicles - OurPitch successfully engaged local school teachers in a FAZ-E License training program.
Between the 17th and 21st of September 2025, OurPitch, in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, hosted a FAZ-E License training course for local school teachers and coaches. The program attracted one hundred and three (103) male and twenty-seven (27) female participants from across the district. In celebrating the training, OurPitch’s staff were treated to a football match between Shang’ombo Primary School and Liyuwayuwa Primary School after which the two teams were gifted with a set of jerseys, five footballs with the District Commissioner Mr. Mubita Siyamana emphasising the significant change OurPitch’s efforts would have on local development in his speech.
