In the pale light just after dawn, shadows stretch across the cracked concrete of al-Thawra Park in Sanaa. A quiet group of people—young men, grandfathers, neighbours—assemble.
There are no whistles, no billboards, no bright sponsors. There is just the ritual of bodies moving: arms lifting, backs bending, legs stretching.
A man in his seventies whispers to another, “I can breathe better now.” These are the mornings of Best Team—a movement not just of exercise, but of rebuilding, reclaiming, healing.
Created in 2017 by retired engineer Najy Abu Hatem and former education official Abdullah Al-Qaidani, Best Team was born out of personal loss and collective trauma.
Abu Hatem saw friends slip into long days of chewing khat—a deeply rooted stimulant habit in Yemen—as they lost purpose, connection, and hope. He and Al-Qaidani invited those friends to join morning exercise, no cost, no judgment. From two people, to over 1,500, across at least 17 branches.
The Invisible Burden: War, Stigma, And Mental Health In Yemen
War in Yemen has ravaged not only cities, infrastructure, and livelihoods, but minds. Decades of armed conflict, displacement, food and water scarcity, cholera and disease outbreaks have layered trauma upon trauma. Reports indicate nearly one in four Yemenis suffer from mental health disorders that go untreated.
Monira al-Nemr, head of psychiatry at Al-Resala Hospital in Sanaa, says the stigma attached to mental illness—superstitions, fear, shame—often means people only seek help when symptoms are severe, long after the damage has settled.
One study, The Right to Mental Health in Yemen: A Distressed and Ignored Foundation for Peace, describes how Yemen’s health infrastructure has collapsed under funding cuts, undertrained staff, and the cumulative effects of conflict.
Psychiatrists are few—just 59 serving a population of over 30 million—and mental health resources are heavily centralized, leaving rural communities nearly entirely without care. Another Guardian report notes that nearly 80% of children surveyed in some zones show symptoms of PTSD.
Best Team: Simple Structure, Profound Impact
What sets Best Team apart is that its power lies in simplicity: no fees, no uniforms, no age barrier, no politics allowed. Sessions are rooted in Swedish gymnastics—33 prescribed movements meant to stretch, awaken, and strengthen the body.
Participants gather first thing in the morning, when heat has not yet battered bodies, and before the demands of the day press in. Retirees, former officials, labourers, those displaced by conflict—many join. Old habits of isolation, sedation, or khat dependency are gradually replaced by ritual, companionship, and movement. People who once could not walk unassisted, or whose bodies had begun to slow under the weight of suffering, now stretch, bend, laugh.
Branch expansion is community-led: when enough people in a neighbourhood request a new Best Team branch, veterans are dispatched to lead. A committee checks that exercises are safe and consistent. Today there are branches across Sanaa and starting in places like Hajja.
Healing More Than Muscles: Mental Health, Dignity, Community
While Best Team doesn’t provide therapy, psychological counselling, or medical treatments, its contribution to mental wellbeing is real.
- Reducing isolation: For many elderly Yemenis, loneliness is a daily companion. Best Team gathers people together, often across divides. A retired former army officer, Hatem Ali, tells how seeing familiar faces, greeting neighbours, has erased some of his anxiety.
- Replacing harmful habits: The daily ritual of khat chewing—deeply social, but also physically and mentally numbing—is gradually being replaced for some members.
- Improving physical health: Stretching, flexibility, balance, strength—these are not mere luxuries; they protect against chronic pain, joint deterioration, and enable independence.
- Providing a safe space: The rule that war, politics, and grievance are not to be discussed during sessions creates a rare neutral zone in a country torn by conflict.
- Cultivating agency and dignity: Doing something simple, consistent, free—taking ownership of one’s health and movement—is deeply meaningful in a setting where so much has been lost.
The Wider Picture: Systemic Gaps And Where Best Team Fits
Best Team does not replace mental health care or systematic clinical intervention. Studies make it clear: Yemen’s rights to mental health are not being fully realised.
Lack of trained staff, lack of accessible infrastructure, funding shortfalls, collapse of ministries and systems—all persist. Alhariri et al. report that many public psychiatric facilities lack essential medicines; many remote areas have no mental health services at all.
A Guardian article details the dire state of psychiatric care in places like Taiz: overcrowded wards, nearly no staff, patients heavily sedated or even shackled. Child PTSD is widespread.
Amid this, Best Team operates in a space few others fill: prevention, resilience-building, social cohesion. It complements rather than competes with formal health services. It reduces pressure on those services by helping people maintain mental balance, giving meaning and routine, offering peer support. Also, by being non-medical, non-donor heavy, community-led, Best Team bypasses many logistical obstacles.
Challenges And Unanswered Questions
Of course, Best Team is not a cure-all. Some of the lingering issues:
- Gender and inclusion: Most reports focus on male participants—women face many more mobility, social, cultural restrictions.
- Geographic reach: Best Team is strongest in Sanaa and nearby urban areas. Reaching rural and high-risk conflict zones is hard.
- Material constraints: Public parks and open spaces can be unsafe. Roads, displacement, food insecurity all affect participation.
- Mental health severity: Best Team helps with mild to moderate distress, but severe cases still need clinical care.
- Sustainability: Volunteer-driven programs risk burnout without structured support and continuity.
Moments That Matter
There are many small stories that illustrate Best Team’s impact:
- A man once unable to walk without a cane now stands tall during sessions.
- A retiree who once spent hours chewing khat now wakes before dawn to stretch and breathe.
- Senior citizens laugh at missteps, help newcomers, share baskets of fruit after sessions.
- Neighbours greet each other daily, building bonds that make communities more resilient.
A Quiet Revolution And What Could Come Next
Best Team shows how a movement grounded in dignity, routine, inclusion, and simplicity can help heal social fabrics. It is both an answer and an invitation: an answer to what people can do when formal systems fail; an invitation to reimagine what healing can look like.
For greater impact, NGOs and health agencies could collaborate, training facilitators, opening spaces for women, and extending branches to rural areas. Recognising movement and peer connection as part of public health is a natural next step.
Conclusion: Morning Stretches Against Despair
There is poetry in the sunrise: people standing in sequence, arms rising, breathing deep, unburdening for a moment. Best Team is not a headline war story. It is subtler. It is ordinary people choosing to move when so much else is immobilised. It is agency in small acts.
In Yemen, where war has promised chaos and silence, Best Team is a pledge: we will rise. We will stretch. We will gather. And sometimes, that is enough to remind us that life, even in its fragility, can still be beautiful.
Sources:
Positive News
