This kind of innovation is important. The fact that you outline unsuccessful strategies, and what was done to find alternative techniques is highly instructive. How old were the computers that were put in the community school? How stable is electrical power in Bamako?
I think it's a bunch of P1s and P2s, with the horsepower coming from a central server, which is a >1 GHz Athlon or something. The server is running Skolelinux. Bamako's electricity is pretty okay. Only when there's heavy rain it can falls out for longer periods. Short ruptures do occur, but are not very common.
k'an be!